High Rise In Suicides :NAFDAC Bans Sale Of Sniper In Open Markets, Supermarkets

As more people continue to use popular agricultural pesticide, Sniper to commit suicide in the country, the National Food, Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) has ordered agro-dealers to withdraw the product from open markets and supermarkets.

NAFDAC’s Director, Veterinary Medicine and Allied Products Directorate, Dr. Bukar Usman, disclosed this on Wednesday at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

Usman, speaking during the launch of a new herbicide for cassava farmers, “Lifeline”, by UPL, Sprinfield Agro and IITA, said that the agency had asked agro-dealers to stop the sale of the product in open markets and supermarkets.

According to him, sniper is an agro-cultural product meant to be used only in the farms and not for households.

He urged manufacturers and dealers to cooperate with NAFDAC to mop up the 100ml size of the product which were cheap and easily acquired.

He maintained that the directive was not an outright ban of the product but a restriction of its use and availability to farms alone, adding all agro-chemicals meant for farms should not be used in households.

“There are appropriate products for the control of mosquitoes and other household pests” he pointed out.