The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting offences across Nigeria, with those convicted receiving prison sentences of between one and seven years without the option of a fine.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed the figures during a press briefing, saying the agency had stepped up surveillance, raids, arrests and prosecutions as part of its campaign against fake and substandard products.
Some of the convictions involved serious medicine-related offences. NAFDAC said one offender received a seven-year jail term over fake antibiotics, while cases involving falsified antimalarial drugs and codeine-containing cough syrups attracted five-year sentences.
The agency’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate has also carried out large-scale seizures and destruction exercises across the country. In 2024 alone, NAFDAC said counterfeit, expired, banned and other non-compliant products with a street value of more than N120 billion were seized and destroyed.
Enforcement operations continued in 2025, including simultaneous raids in Idumota, Onitsha and Aba between February and March. NAFDAC said the operations resulted in the seizure and destruction of more than 137 forty-foot truckloads of counterfeit and substandard products valued at over N1.5 trillion.
The crackdown has continued into 2026. In February, fake, expired, counterfeit and banned medicines worth more than N15 billion were destroyed in Ibadan, while more than 10 million doses of counterfeit malaria medicines and cosmetics valued at about N3 billion were seized in Lagos. Four people were arrested in connection with the Lagos operation.
Other recent operations include the destruction of counterfeit medicines, banned sachet alcohol, narcotics and other non-compliant products worth N1.8 billion in Abuja in March. In June, NAFDAC uncovered a suspected counterfeit rice factory in Nasarawa, confiscating more than 1,600 bags valued at N5 billion, while five people were arrested in Abuja over the alleged sale of counterfeit cosmetics worth N35 million.
NAFDAC said its work also covers individual counterfeit products and illegal practices, including a public alert over fake Colgate toothpaste and the discovery of companies allegedly refilling and reselling 19-litre CWAY dispenser bottles with water from unapproved sources. The agency said a suspect arrested in July over alleged Oral-B toothpaste counterfeiting remains in its custody.
Adeyeye said the continued appearance of fake products in Nigerian markets does not mean regulatory surveillance has failed. NAFDAC argued that the scale and sophistication of counterfeiting require constant intelligence gathering, laboratory testing, enforcement and public cooperation, while urging consumers to report suspected products through the agency’s official channels to support discreet and timely investigations.
