The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting across the country, as it intensifies surveillance, raids, arrests, prosecutions and destruction of fake and substandard products nationwide.

The agency’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye during a press briefing yesterday said the convictions resulted in sentences ranging from one to seven years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine.
According to NAFDAC, notable convictions include seven years’ imprisonment for fake antibiotics, five years for falsified antimalarials and five years for codeine-containing cough syrups.

The agency said its Investigation and Enforcement Directorate had also intensified coordinated enforcement operations, leading to the seizure and destruction of counterfeit, expired, banned and other non-compliant products across the country.

It said that in December 2023, 150 shops were shut in Aba, while counterfeit beverages, spirits and re-validated foods worth N5 billion were destroyed.

In February 2024, more than 1,300 open drug marketers in Kano were relocated to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre at Kanawa following a valid court order, the agency said. NAFDAC added that in December 2024, expired and unregistered drugs worth N11 billion were destroyed in Ibadan, while another 250 shops were shut in Aba and counterfeit products valued at N7 billion were destroyed.

The agency said that throughout 2024, products with a street market value of more than N120 billion were seized and destroyed nationwide.

The enforcement activities continued into 2025 and 2026, with NAFDAC reporting major operations in several locations.
According to the agency, coordinated simultaneous raids conducted between February and March 2025 in Idumota, Onitsha and Aba resulted in the seizure and destruction of more than 137 forty-foot truckloads of counterfeit and substandard products valued at over N1.5 trillion.

In February 2026, NAFDAC said fake, expired, counterfeit and banned medicines worth more than N15 billion were destroyed in Ibadan. The products included Analgin, codeine syrups, Tramadol and expired vaccines. Also in February, more than 10 million doses of counterfeit malaria medicines and cosmetics valued at approximately N3 billion were seized in Lagos, with four persons arrested.

In March 2026, the agency destroyed counterfeit medicines, banned sachet alcohol, narcotics and other non-compliant products valued at N1.8 billion in Abuja.
NAFDAC said its operations also extended to other forms of counterfeit consumer products. In June 2026, the agency uncovered a counterfeit rice factory in Nasarawa, where more than 1,600 bags valued at N5 billion were confiscated.

The same month, five persons were arrested in Abuja for allegedly selling counterfeit cosmetics valued at N35 million.

Beyond the large-scale enforcement operations, NAFDAC said its surveillance activities had also led to the investigation of specific counterfeit products and illegal practices.

The agency cited its investigation and public alert on counterfeit Colgate toothpaste, as well as the discovery of three companies illegally refilling and reselling 19-litre CWAY dispenser bottles using unapproved water sources. The operators were sanctioned, it said.

NAFDAC also disclosed that a suspect arrested in July 2026 for allegedly counterfeiting Oral-B toothpaste remained in the agency’s custody.

The agency, however, said the continued presence of counterfeit products in the market should not be interpreted as an absence of regulatory surveillance. It explained that the scale and complexity of product counterfeiting required continuous surveillance, intelligence gathering, laboratory verification, enforcement and public engagement.

NAFDAC stressed that achieving a market free of fake and substandard products was a collective responsibility requiring the agency, sister regulatory bodies and members of the public to work together. It therefore urged consumers to report suspected non-compliant products through its official channels before resorting to social media, saying this would enable discreet, prompt and thorough investigations.