NAFDAC Destroys ₦1.54tn Fake Products, Secures 64 Convictions Nationwide
Mirian Gom 
Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye
LAGOS, Nigeria – The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has destroyed or seized counterfeit and substandard products worth more than ₦1.54 trillion across Nigeria since 2023 as part of an intensified nationwide crackdown on fake medicines, foods, cosmetics and other regulated products.
Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this on Monday in Lagos while addressing growing public concern over the circulation of counterfeit products in Nigerian markets.
She described manufacturers and distributors of fake products as “merchants of death”, warning that the agency would continue to intensify enforcement operations and prosecute offenders.
The announcement follows renewed concerns over the widespread sale of suspected counterfeit medicines, cosmetics and consumer goods across the country.
Adeyeye revealed that coordinated enforcement operations carried out between February and March 2025 at Idumota Market in Lagos, Onitsha Drug Market and Ariaria International Market in Aba resulted in the seizure and destruction of counterfeit products loaded in more than 137 forty-foot trucks, valued at over ₦1.5 trillion.
“Between February and March 2025, NAFDAC coordinated simultaneous raids across Idumota, Onitsha and Ariaria markets, leading to the evacuation and destruction of counterfeit and substandard products valued at over ₦1.5 trillion,” she said.
She also highlighted a series of destruction exercises conducted across the country.
According to her, the agency destroyed fake, expired and prohibited medicines worth over ₦15 billion in Ibadan in February 2026, including Analgin, Tramadol, codeine syrups, Oxytocin, expired vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.
Another exercise in Abuja saw the destruction of counterfeit medicines, banned sachet alcohol, antibiotics, narcotics, counterfeit milk products, cosmetics and medical devices valued at ₦1.8 billion, while expired and unregistered drugs worth ₦11 billion were destroyed in Ibadan in December 2024.
In Aba, the agency destroyed counterfeit beverages, alcoholic drinks and revalidated food products worth ₦12 billion following separate enforcement operations conducted in 2023 and 2024.
Adeyeye disclosed that NAFDAC secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting offences between 2023 and 2026, with courts imposing prison sentences ranging from one to seven years without the option of fines.
She listed some of the convictions, including five-year jail terms for the production of counterfeit antimalarial drugs supplied under the Global Fund programme and fake codeine-containing cough syrups, alongside seven-year prison sentences for fake antibiotics.
Adeyeye further disclosed that NAFDAC uncovered three companies involved in illegally refilling branded CWAY water dispenser bottles with water sourced from unapproved facilities before distributing them to hotels and supermarkets.
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