Mathew Amaechi 

In a massive crackdown on counterfeit medications, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has seized over 100 truckloads of substandard, falsified, and banned medicines and narcotics from markets in Lagos, Abia, and Anambra states. 

This staggering haul, valued at over N1 trillion, is the largest enforcement operation in NAFDAC’s history.

The agency’s Director-General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, warned that if these fake drugs had entered circulation, they could have “ruined the nation” and “reduced the quality of life of millions of Nigerians.”

Adeyeye emphasized that the seized narcotics could have fueled banditry, terrorism, and even death, particularly among Nigeria’s large youth population.

The enforcement operation, which lasted six weeks, targeted major drug markets in Idumota, Lagos; Aba, Abia; and Onitsha, Anambra. NAFDAC staff and police officers faced resistance from merchants, who mobbed and attacked them to protect their illicit trade,

Some of the seized items included: 27 truckloads of fake drugs from Idumota, already destroyed and 80 truckloads of unregistered, banned medicines and narcotics from Aba and Onitsha markets, 14 truckloads of violative medicines from the Osisioma warehouse in Aba, Ten truckloads of tramadol from the plumbing, wood plank, and fashion lines of the Onitsha market, and Four truckloads of syrup with codeine, banned almost seven years ago.

Adeyeye stressed that NAFDAC’s enforcement efforts aim to protect public health, foster trade, and reduce the scourge of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.