The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has seized and destroyed counterfeit and unwholesome products worth more than N5.3bn in a week.
Christiana Obiazikwor, the agency’s Deputy Director of Public Relations, revealed this during an exclusive Friday interview with Saturday PUNCH, providing details of operations that involved suspected counterfeit alcoholic beverages, repackaged goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, tomato paste, and biscuits.
She stated that on October 13, NAFDAC confiscated suspected counterfeit alcoholic drinks along with illegally brewed or repackaged products worth N2bn at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex.
In Aba, Abia State, the agency also seized suspected fake drinks and packaging materials valued at more than N700m, and on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, goods worth N2.6bn were destroyed.
Obiazikwor explained that operatives found over 20 illegal shops at Zamfara Plaza inside the Trade Fair Complex, where they uncovered operations involving the counterfeiting of well-known alcoholic beverage brands, the revalidation of expired drinks, and the stockpiling of banned imported products.
She noted that two suspects were apprehended during the operation, and the confiscated products were removed from the premises.
In Aba, NAFDAC agents raided five shops at Old Court Road Market over suspected fake alcoholic beverages and packaging materials.
Obiazikwor stated that the products confiscated during the operation were worth over N700m.
Per the agency, the materials comprised counterfeit labels, corks, packs, and outer packaging carrying the names of well-known brands.
NAFDAC reported that its officers faced resistance from traders during the operation, which hindered the evacuation of the materials.
The agency further stated that the shop owners were not present and the premises were sealed off to prevent tampering with the items left behind.
Discussing another finding, Obiazikwor said NAFDAC officials discovered a suspected alcoholic beverage counterfeiting operation at No. 25 Omenazu Street, Aba, on October 15.
She said the facility was allegedly used to manufacture spirits and herbal liqueurs in unhygienic conditions.
According to her, the operator fled after officials reached the facility on a tip-off, leaving his car behind.
She said a vehicle there held labels and products bearing the names of Sir Edwards Scotch Whisky and Scottish Hills Whisky, along with empty bottles in the boot.
“A drum containing about 200 liters of liquid and a product branded Café Rum Whisky was also found,” Obiazikwor added.
She stated that the operatives also found 200-liter drums filled with ethanol, plastic buckets, pieces of tree bark, packaging materials, corks, tanks holding liquid mixtures, dirty sieves, sealing machines, bottles carrying well-known brand names, and cartons.
According to Obiazikwor, the materials and the facility were valued at over N500m.
Obiazikwor noted that in a separate operation in Port Harcourt, NAFDAC destroyed products worth N2.6bn.
The items included pharmaceutical products, chemicals, tomato paste, biscuits, and other goods that the agency described as unwholesome. The Nigeria Customs Service intercepted and seized them at Onne Port between 2025 and 2026.
Dr. Martins Iluyomade, Chairman of the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit, Fake Drugs, and Unwholesome Processed Foods in Nigeria, who represented NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, spoke at the destruction site on Friday.
Iluyomade, who is also NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, said the exercise showed cooperation between the agency and the Nigeria Customs Service in disposing of the seized goods. ↻
He said the process started in 2025 and that both agencies had signed memoranda of understanding to make the destruction of the products possible.
“This gesture corroborates the existing good relationship we have between NAFDAC and the Nigeria Customs Service. We have MoUs signed, but we have people who have to work behind the scenes to make sure that the MoUs work.
“The willingness of the officers of the two agencies to make the MoU work is what has led to what we are doing today,” he said.
“What you see here right now, this is the flag-up; others are still coming out of the port, and I want to urge the Nigeria Customs Service to quickly facilitate the remaining containers to be here on time for destruction,” he added.
He urged the government agencies engaged in combating counterfeit goods and illicit activities to work together, cautioning against rivalry between agencies.
Speaking on behalf of the Enforcement Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service, Area II Command, Superintendent of Customs Elizabeth Abosede praised NAFDAC for the exercise.
The South-South Zonal Director of NAFDAC, Chukwuma Oligbu, speaking through his deputy, Rita Chukwuma, stated that the exercise formed part of the agency’s regulatory duties.
She further stated that the aim was to free communities from fake and substandard products.
