.FG warns against compromising war on fake drugs, others 

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja 

The Director General of National Agency For Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has revealed that recent enforcement carried out at major drug markets in Lagos, Onitsha and Ariaria in Aba markets resulted in the evacuation and destruction of over 100 trucks of counterfeit and substandard medicines and food products valued at over N1 trillion. 

This was as the federal government has cautioned all agencies and departments responsible for regulation and enforcement of standards for food and health related products not to undermine efforts to prevent influx of fake and substandard products into the country.

On her part, Adeyeye highlighted recent efforts by NAFDAC to enforce regulatory compliance in the food and drugs sectors.

She said between February and March 2025, NAFDAC conducted coordinated operations at major drug markets, notably Onitsha and Ariaria markets. 

“These operations resulted in the evacuation and destruction of over 100 trucks of counterfeit and substandard products, valued at over 1 trillion naira. “This massive seizure not only removed dangerous products from circulation but also sent a strong message that Nigeria is serious about protecting its citizens,” she said.

Adeyeye said that the enforcement operations led to the arrest of numerous illegal traders and the seizure of a wide range of fake medicines, unregistered drugs, and unwholesome processed foods.  

The DG said that establishment of the federal and state task forces were necessitated by the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard medicines, as well as unsafe processed foods, “that demands our immediate and unwavering attention”.

According to her, the Task Force is constitutionally empowered by the provisions of Cap C 34, of the NAFDAC’s Establishment Act, adding that both the federal and state task forces are expected to collaborate and operate within stipulated guidelines.

Speaking on behalf of the 10- member Task force, the Chairman, Martins Iluyomade assured that they work hard to realise the target set by the government.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Prof Ali Mohammad Pate who gave the caution at the inauguration of the Federal and State Task Forces on Counterfeit and fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods in Abuja yesterday, said federal government believes the fight against illicit products is a shared responsibility. 

He said that conniving with fraudulent importers and dealers of fake products would endanger not just the lives and livelihoods of other people but the perpetrators themselves.

“I call on everyone present to recognise that this is a shared responsibility for all of us. The success of this task force at the federal level, and certain levels inaugurate them, depends on our ability to work together swiftly, decisively and transparently. We must enhance surveillance. 

“We must enforce the regulations there strictly and educate the public to recognise and reject counterfeit and unwholesome products.

“Let me be clear, the fight against counterfeit drugs and unsafe food is urgent. Every delay that will be made will cost lives and livelihoods, and every partnership that we forge, every effort that we can make, brings us closer to a safer and healthier nation. 

“It’s not just the public, you know, it’s not about the other. Because if you are colluding or compromising, and you can go to your home and have the best dinner, but you don’t know what your children, your wife, your cousins, your parents, your neighbours, your friends are eating. And so I want you to all stand up and to really commit to zero tolerance for compromise, ” he said. 

While commending NAFDAC for sustaining the country’s position as one of the few in the continent to attain Maturity Level 3 of World Health Organisation’s regulatory standards, Pate charged the agency to target the attainment of Maturity Level-4 regulatory standards.

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