Criminal elements responsible for the circulation of fake products in Nigeria are not in a hurry to give up their trade. It is, however, apparent that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), is also not willing to let them thrive. The agency announced over the weekend that it destroyed over N120bn worth of counterfeit products between July and December 2024 across the country.
The NAFDAC’s Director General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye revealed this in her Christmas and New Year message. The message was in a statement signed by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola.
Adeyeye assured Nigerians of the agency’s commitment to safeguarding their health during the festive season and beyond.
She further reiterated the need to eat safely during the festive period and advised Nigerians to purchase only safe, quality, and wholesome food products. Not only that, Professor Adeyeye advised Nigerians to buy their products from identifiable addresses in order to facilitate the agency’s tracking processes.
The Director General admonished Nigerians against consuming medicines and packaged food products lacking NAFDAC registration numbers, adding that unusually cheap products are likely compromised. “When a product is too cheap, it’s most likely to be compromised.”
She also assured that the agency’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate remain committed to ensuring that harmful products are removed from circulation nationwide, especially during the festive season.
“Officers from the Investigation and Enforcement, Pharmacovigilance, and Post-Marketing Surveillance Directorates are in the field confiscating falsified medicines, fake wines and drinks, and unwholesome food products that could jeopardise public health during the festive season,” she said.
According to the statement, in December 2024 alone, the agency destroyed expired and unregistered drugs worth ₦11bn in Ibadan, while counterfeit alcoholic beverages and fake medicines worth billions of naira were seized in Lagos. In Nasarawa State, the agency uncovered a factory packaging counterfeit rice and confiscated over 1,600 bags valued at ₦5bn.
It added that the agency shut down 150 shops in Aba, Abia State, and uncovered large-scale production of counterfeit goods, including beverages, spirits, and revalidated food items, with a market value of ₦5bn.
Adeyeye further reaffirmed NAFDAC’s commitment to ensuring that only safe, quality food products and medicines are available in the Nigerian market. She assured Nigerians that the agency will intensify efforts to drive counterfeiters, who she described as ” merchants of death”, out of business.
The statement read in parts:
‘’We are using this medium to appeal to Nigerians to buy only NAFDAC-registered drinks from reputable and licensed retailers, bars and supermarkets.
“If the product is being sold well below its normal price, or doesn’t seem to include normal taxes on liquors, then it is probably fake. Check for poor-quality packaging, spelling mistakes and unusually shaped bottles.”
The statement also advised healthcare professionals and consumers to report any suspicion of substandard and falsified medicines or food to the nearest NAFDAC office. They can also call 0800-162-3322 or send an email to sf.alert@nafdac.gov.ng.
