NAQS; DDVP on the Rise Among Food Vendors

It is worrisome that the level of food fraud in the country has gone beyond comprehension. The degradation in our food system is worrisome, so much that the entire food chain is in a big mess. Hence, it is expedient that the Federal Government should prioritize drastic measures to sanitize the food system and question NAQS (Nigerian Agriculture Quarantine Service) for not living to its expectation with urgency

You can not imagine what many food vendors do to preserve their products from deteriorating. Out of ignorance, greed, prevention of loss and porous regulatory thrust, food vendors has resort to go to any length to help themselves at the expense of the Nigerian consumers

Recently, a facebook user identified as Uchenna Okoli Anyanwu shared a clip where she visited Oyingbo Open market to buy stock fish, only to see the seller donning the products with sniper 

Sniper, a DDVP, 2,2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate compound, widely marketed in Nigeria by Swiss-Nigerian Chemical Company, as a synthetic organophosphorus is a household name Nigeria used by Nigerians either an indoor insecticides or pesticides

Sniper is predominantly used as an insecticide because of its effectiveness in killing insects better than well-established brands.

The demand is also geared by its affordability. A 100ml of sniper goes for between N200 and N300 compare to its competitors which cost an average of N750 and more

This synthetic organophosphorus became prominent when a consumer took to the media allegedly accused a vendor of donning it over a bean to ward of insects in the open market

Though many Nigerians have been calling on the government to check the proliferation of the chemical, and access because of its wrong use associated with suicide cases

Sniper can be picked up easily on the streets as they are sold openly in the market.

Husman Bukar, the Director, Veterinary Medicine and Allied Products Directorate, NAFDAC was quoted as saying  “We have also placed a ban on the manufacture of smaller packs of Sniper which are easily purchased for household use,” 

“Recently, some suicide cases have been associated with people drinking Sniper. Henceforth, we call on the agro-chemical industry to enhance their distribution channels so that this product (Sniper) gets to only accredited distributors and marketers.”

According to medical experts, symptoms of exposure to DDVPs includes weakness, headache, tightness in chest, blurred vision, salivation, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, eye and skin irritation.

Exposure to Sniper may also cause eye pain, runny nose, wheezing, laryngospasm (a brief contraction of the vocal cords that temporarily makes it difficult to speak or breathe), cyanosis (a bluish discoloration of the skin resulting from poor circulation or inadequate oxygenation of the blood), convulsions and so on.

The ingredient in the product could be absorbed either by inhalation or by contaminating food and drinks leading to systemic toxicities, manifesting as abnormal heart rates, disturbance of gastrointestinal motility, excessive salivation, muscular spasm and in the extreme, death”.less alone using directly on food as sighted among food vendors