By Sunny A. David, Onitsha
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has intensified its war against counterfeit and substandard products, destroying and seizing goods worth more than ₦1.54 trillion across Nigeria since 2023.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this on Monday in Lagos while addressing growing concerns over the circulation of fake and substandard regulated products in the country.
Adeyeye said one of the agency’s biggest coordinated operations took place between February and March 2025, when simultaneous raids were carried out at major markets in Lagos and the South-East.
According to her, the operations at Idumota Market in Lagos, Onitsha Market in Anambra State and Ariaria International Market in Aba, Abia State, resulted in the seizure and destruction of more than 137 truckloads of counterfeit and substandard products valued at over ₦1.5 trillion.
She described manufacturers and distributors of fake products as “merchants of death,” stressing that NAFDAC would maintain a zero-tolerance approach to counterfeiting.
The NAFDAC boss also highlighted several other destruction exercises carried out by the agency across the country.
In February 2026, the agency destroyed fake, expired, counterfeit and banned medicines worth more than ₦15 billion in Ibadan, Oyo State. The products included Analgin, Co-codamol, codeine syrups, Tramadol, Oxytocin and expired vaccines.
Similarly, in December 2024, NAFDAC destroyed expired and unregistered drugs valued at about ₦11 billion in Ibadan.
In March 2026, the agency also destroyed counterfeit medicines and other regulated products worth ₦1.8 billion in Kuje, Abuja. The destroyed items included banned sachet alcohol, narcotics, antibiotics, antimalarial drugs, counterfeit milk, skin-lightening creams, fake insecticides and medical devices.
Adeyeye said the destruction of drugs and pharmaceutical-related products alone accounted for approximately ₦27.8 billion.
The agency also recorded major successes in Aba, Abia State, where counterfeit beverages, spirits and improperly processed food products worth ₦5 billion were destroyed in December 2023 after about 150 shops were shut down.
A similar operation in December 2024 led to the closure of 250 shops and the discovery of fake products valued at ₦7 billion, bringing the total value of products affected during the two Aba operations to ₦12 billion.
Adeyeye further disclosed that products destroyed nationwide in 2024 alone had an estimated street value of more than ₦120 billion.
Beyond seizures and destruction, the NAFDAC Director-General said the agency had secured 64 convictions involving counterfeit products across the country.
The convictions, secured alongside the agency’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Iluyomade Martins, attracted prison sentences ranging from one to seven years without the option of a fine.
Among the convictions secured between June 2025 and June 2026 were five-year jail terms for the production of fake Global Fund Artemether and a codeine-containing cough syrup, while other offenders received sentences for producing fake ointments, condoms and antibiotics.
Adeyeye said NAFDAC’s enforcement activities since 2023 had resulted in billions of naira worth of seizures, hundreds of arrests, dozens of convictions and the destruction of counterfeit products valued in trillions of naira.
She also revealed that the agency’s Post-Marketing Surveillance Directorate inspected 6,233 facilities across the country between May and July 2026 and removed 7,210 brands and products from circulation.
The surveillance exercise covered food and water, drugs and herbal products, medical devices, vaccines, cosmetics, healthcare products and chemicals.
According to Adeyeye, the Food and Water category recorded the highest number of products removed from circulation, with 3,633 products discovered in 1,808 facilities.
The Drugs and Herbals category, however, recorded the highest number of facilities inspected, with 2,084 facilities visited and 2,459 products removed.
The NAFDAC boss also disclosed that the agency uncovered three companies allegedly involved in counterfeiting CWAY dispenser bottles by refilling empty 19-litre branded bottles with water from unapproved sources.
She said the products were supplied to hotels and supermarkets without authorisation and that the operators had been severely sanctioned.
Adeyeye, however, clarified that NAFDAC could not be solely responsible for eliminating all criminal activities involving unsafe products in the country.
She explained that fresh agricultural produce such as apples, grapes and oranges do not fall exclusively under NAFDAC’s regulatory jurisdiction but are also under the supervision of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service.
She added that the agency does not have direct and absolute regulatory control over traditionally packaged and openly sold products such as unbranded palm oil, fufu and other staple foods.
The NAFDAC Director-General therefore called on state and local authorities to collaborate more closely with the agency to ensure the safety of products consumed by Nigerians.
“Fakers are not ghosts; they exist within our communities, neighbourhoods and business premises,” Adeyeye said, stressing that the fight against counterfeit products requires the collective efforts of regulatory agencies, other government institutions and members of the public.
She urged Nigerians to report suspected fake or non-compliant products directly to NAFDAC rather than relying solely on social media.
Adeyeye said the agency could be reached through its enquiry line, 0700-1-NAFDAC, and complaint line, 0800-1-NAFDAC.
She reiterated NAFDAC’s call for tougher penalties against manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit regulated products, noting that the agency had previously advocated stronger punishments, including life imprisonment, for offenders involved in the production and sale of dangerous fake products.
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