The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has revealed that it destroyed or seized counterfeit and substandard regulated products valued at more than N1.5tn between 2023 and 2026.
The Punch reported that the NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this on Monday in Lagos while addressing concerns over the increasing circulation of fake and potentially dangerous products across the country.
Adeyeye described counterfeiters as “merchants of death” and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to intensifying its fight against fake and substandard products.
According to her, one of the agency’s biggest operations was conducted between February and March 2025 across Idumota Market in Lagos, Onitsha and Ariaria International Market in Aba, Abia State.
She said the coordinated raids resulted in the seizure and destruction of counterfeit and substandard goods transported in more than 137 40-foot trucks.
She said, “Between February and March 2025, across Idumota, Onitsha and Ariaria Market, Aba, NAFDAC coordinated and simultaneously executed major raids which led to seizure and destruction of over 137 40-foot truckloads of counterfeit and substandard products valued at more than N1.5tn were evacuated and destroyed.”
The agency also recorded several major operations targeting fake, expired, banned and unregistered medicines.
In February 2026, NAFDAC destroyed more than N15bn worth of fake, expired, counterfeit and banned medicines in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The products included Analgin, Co-codamol, codeine-based syrups, Tramadol, Oxytocin and expired vaccines. A suspect connected to a smuggled container was also arrested.
In December 2024, the agency destroyed expired and unregistered drugs valued at N11bn in Ibadan, while another operation in Kuje, Abuja, in March 2026 led to the destruction of N1.8bn worth of counterfeit medicines and other prohibited products.
The items destroyed in Kuje included banned sachet alcohol below 200ml, narcotics, antibiotics, antimalarials, counterfeit milk, skin-lightening creams, fake insecticides and medical devices.
NAFDAC said the combined value of the drug and pharmaceutical products destroyed in the highlighted operations stood at N27.8bn.
The agency also disclosed that it destroyed counterfeit beverages, spirits and revalidated food products worth N5bn in Aba in December 2023 after shutting down 150 shops.
A follow-up operation at the same location in December 2024 resulted in the closure of 250 shops and the discovery of counterfeit products valued at N7bn.
This brought the combined value of the beverage and food products destroyed during the two Aba operations to N12bn.
Adeyeye further stated that products destroyed across the country in 2024 alone had a street value exceeding N120bn.
She added that NAFDAC had secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting, with offenders receiving prison sentences ranging from one to seven years without the option of a fine.
Adeyeye listed some of the sentences secured between June 2025 and June 2026, including five years for falsifying Global Fund Artemether, five years for a codeine-containing cough and cold syrup, 12 months for fake ointments and condoms, and seven years for counterfeit antibiotics.
She said, “NAFDAC’s record for 2023-present shows it has responded with billions in seizures, hundreds of arrests, dozens of convictions, and trillion-naira destructions.”
The NAFDAC boss also disclosed that the agency’s Post-Market Surveillance Directorate inspected 6,233 facilities and removed 7,210 brands and products from circulation nationwide between May and July 2026.
The exercise covered food and water, drugs and herbal products, medical devices, vaccines and biologics, cosmetics, healthcare products and chemicals.
Food and Water accounted for the largest number of products removed, with 3,633 products recovered from 1,808 facilities.
The Drugs and Herbals category, meanwhile, recorded the highest number of facilities inspected, with 2,084 facilities yielding 2,459 products.
Adeyeye also revealed that NAFDAC uncovered the counterfeiting of CWAY dispenser bottles by three companies.
According to her, the companies refilled empty 19-litre bottles carrying the identity of a registered water company with water obtained from unapproved sources before supplying them to hotels and supermarkets without authorisation.
She said the operators had been heavily sanctioned.
However, Adeyeye clarified that NAFDAC’s regulatory mandate had limitations, noting that fresh farm produce such as apples, grapes and oranges was under the responsibility of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service.
She also explained that the agency did not exercise direct and absolute regulatory control over unbranded palm oil, fufu and other traditionally packaged staple foods sold in open markets.
The NAFDAC DG urged state and local authorities to work with the agency to improve the safety of such products.
“Fakers are not ghosts; they exist within our communities, neighbourhoods, and business premises,” Adeyeye said.
She stressed that tackling counterfeit products required cooperation among NAFDAC, other government agencies and members of the public.
Adeyeye encouraged Nigerians to report suspected fake or non-compliant products through NAFDAC’s official call centre rather than relying solely on social media reports.
She gave the agency’s enquiry line as 0700-1-NAFDAC (0700-1-623322) and the complaint line as 0800-1-NAFDAC (0800-1-623322).
The NAFDAC boss said the agency had previously advocated tougher punishment under the NAFDAC Act and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act, including the death penalty or life imprisonment for individuals involved in producing and distributing fake regulated products.
