NAFDAC Seeks Life Imprisonment, Death Penalty for Fake Product Dealers, Mops Up 7,210 Fake Products Across Nigeria

NAFDAC Seeks Life Imprisonment, Death Penalty for Fake Product Dealers, Mops Up 7,210 Fake Products Across Nigeria Arrest makers of counterfeit CWay, Oral-B, Colgate 64 counterfeiters convicted, sentenced to up to seven years in prison•DG discards resignation calls, says she is here to remove shame from Nigeria Sunday Ehigiator Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, has called for life imprisonment or the death penalty for persons involved in the production and distribution of fake regulated products, describing counterfeiters as “merchants of death”.Adeyeye made the call while responding to concerns over the circulation of suspected fake and substandard food and other regulated products in the country.She disclosed that NAFDAC had mopped up 7,210 products during nationwide post-marketing surveillance operations between May and July 2026.Adeyeye also revealed that the agency had arrested persons allegedly involved in the counterfeiting of CWay water, as well as Oral-B and Colgate toothpastes, while 64 convictions had been secured against counterfeiters across the country, with offenders sentenced to between one and seven years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.The NAFDAC boss said the agency’s enforcement activities demonstrated that it was actively confronting the proliferation of falsified, adulterated, substandard, and unregistered regulated products, despite the sophistication and scale of the activities of counterfeiters.Adeyeye stated, “Post-marketing surveillance is a critical component of NAFDAC’s regulatory mandate.“Its activities involve identifying products of regulatory concern, conducting inspections and surveillance visits, sampling products for appropriate assessment, investigating complaints and intelligence, removing non-compliant products from circulation and initiating appropriate regulatory action.”According to her, approximately 80 per cent of NAFDAC’s post-marketing surveillance activities are directed towards detecting and curbing fake, falsified, substandard, adulterated and otherwise non-compliant products.She said between May and July 2026, the agency’s Post-Marketing Surveillance Directorate undertook proactive surveillance across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).“In the last three months, from May to July 2026, the PMS Directorate undertook routine proactive surveillance nationwide across the 36 states and the FCT,” she said.Adeyeye said, “The monthly reports show a total of 5,738 facilities visited and 7,210 brands of products mopped up across food, water, drugs and herbals, medical devices, vaccines and biologics, cosmetics, healthcare products and chemicals.”She stated that food and water products accounted for the largest category, with 3,633 products mopped up, followed by drugs and herbals with 2,459.The director-general disclosed the agency had investigated complaints concerning counterfeit Oral-B and Colgate toothpastes and had arrested individuals, allegedly, behind the counterfeiting operations.she said, “The reported concerns involving regulated products with reference to Oral-B and Colgate toothpaste were investigated already by the agency.”She said NAFDAC had placed a public notice on its official website concerning the counterfeit Colgate products to alert consumers.Adeyeye added that the manufacturer of Colgate had subsequently contacted the agency after the discovery of the counterfeiting operation.“A few weeks ago, the manufacturer of Colgate, because they are counterfeiting their product, contacted us through another medium and we told them that we’ve already arrested the people that are behind the Colgate counterfeiting, they were quite pleased,” she said.The agency also uncovered the counterfeiting of CWay dispenser water bottles by three companies, according to Adeyeye.She said the operators collected empty 19-litre bottles bearing the identity and branding of the legitimate water company and used them to package water from unapproved production sources.“They collect the bottles from CWay and go and put whatever inside it,” she said.Adeyeye said the counterfeit operators refilled the bottles with water from unapproved sources before selling and distributing them to major hotels and supermarkets.She stated, “They collected, refilled with water from unapproved production sources and subsequently introduced [the products] into the market for sale and distribution to big hotels and supermarkets. The operators were caught and they have been heavily sanctioned.”She warned that such practices created serious public health risks, including contamination, poor hygiene, product misrepresentation, and difficulty tracing the source of the water consumed by members of the public.Adeyeye said the latest surveillance figures represented only a portion of NAFDAC’s broader enforcement operations across the country.She recalled that between February and March 2025, the agency conducted simultaneous raids in Idumota, Lagos; Aba, Abia State; and Onitsha Bridgehead, Anambra State.She stated, “We had major raids that led to seizure and destruction of over 137 40-foot truckloads of counterfeit and substandard products valued at more than N1.5 trillion. These were all evacuated and destroyed.”According to her, NAFDAC has also conducted major destruction exercises in different parts of the country, including the destruction of more than N15 billion worth of fake, expired, counterfeit and banned medicines in Ibadan, Oyo State, in February 2026.The products destroyed included Analgin, co-codamol, codeine syrups, tramadol, oxytocin and expired vaccines.In March 2026, she said the agency destroyed counterfeit medicines and other regulated products worth N1.8 billion in Kuje, Abuja.The items included narcotics, antibiotics, antimalarials, counterfeit milk, skin-lightening creams, fake insecticides and medical devices.At the Lagos Trade Fair Market in February 2026, NAFDAC seized more than 10 million doses of counterfeit malaria medicines and cosmetics valued at about N3 billion.Four persons were arrested after the products were discovered in a three-storey building, allegedly, being used as a warehouse.In another operation in Nasarawa State in June 2026, the agency uncovered a factory packaging counterfeit rice, with more than 1,600 bags valued at about N5 million confiscated.Adeyeye said the agency had also carried out major enforcement operations in markets and business premises across the country, resulting in the destruction of counterfeit beverages, spirits, revalidated foods, medicines, cosmetics and other regulated products.The NAFDAC boss said the agency had moved beyond seizures and destruction to securing convictions against individuals involved in counterfeiting.“It’s not just arrests. It is convictions and prosecutions. NAFDAC moved beyond seizures to jail time,” she said.Adeyeye disclosed that 64 convictions for counterfeiting had been secured across the country, with sentences ranging from one to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine.She stated, “Five years for faking a drug. Five years for containing medicines. Twelve months for fake ointments and condoms. Seven years for fake antibiotics.”She also disclosed that a woman involved in pharmaceutical counterfeiting had received a seven-year prison sentence.Adeyeye said the agency’s enforcement teams had continued to face risks in the course of carrying out their duties, particularly during raids on markets where counterfeit products were being manufactured or sold.She described the individuals behind such activities as “merchants of death”.Adeyeye said, “What is it that we cannot do in this country? Falsification? Selling things that will kill our people?”She said, “NAFDAC has not slept because of that.”Adeyeye called for tougher penalties against individuals who deliberately manufactured and distributed fake regulated products.She said the NAFDAC Act and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act were undergoing review, stressing that the revised laws should impose severe punishment on offenders.“The penalties should include death penalty or life imprisonment to people who produce and sell fake regulated products,” she said.According to her, stronger sanctions are necessary because counterfeit products can directly threaten human lives and undermine the health system.She also urged Nigerians to support the agency’s regulatory efforts by reporting suspected counterfeit and unsafe products through official channels.Adeyeye said, “Fakers are not ghosts. They exist within our communities, neighbourhoods and business premises. They may be neighbours, friends, parents, spouses or acquaintances.”Adeyeye said NAFDAC had invested in complaint channels, including a call centre established about eight months ago, to enable members of the public to report suspected violations.She cautioned that social media allegations should not be regarded as conclusive evidence that a product was fake or unsafe.“Social media allegations do not by themselves establish that a product is counterfeited, adulterated or unsafe,” she said.She urged members of the public to lodge complaints directly with NAFDAC to enable the agency to conduct discreet investigations, laboratory analyses, and appropriate enforcement action.Adeyeye also dismissed calls for her resignation, using her response to defend her record since assuming office as NAFDAC Director-General in 2017.She said she inherited an agency facing serious financial, technological and operational challenges but had overseen significant improvements in its regulatory capacity.“When I got to NAFDAC, NAFDAC had maturity level one, minus one, out of four,” she said.Adeyeye disclosed that she inherited about $3.2 million in outstanding obligations, including unpaid taxes and debts owed to contractors.“2017, there were 700 travels, and I said no more travel until we pay our debts,” she said.Adeyeye said NAFDAC subsequently paid $3.11 million by November 2018.She also recalled that between 70 and 80 per cent of the agency’s equipment was not functioning when she assumed office.“In the lab, companies were sending vehicles for us to come and inspect them. No single director had a laptop,” she said.She said the agency attained maturity level three in March 2022, becoming the first regulatory agency in Africa to achieve the status.She disclosed that NAFDAC became an African member of the International Medical Device Regulators Forum in 2023 and joined the International Council for Harmonisation in 2025.“Countries now respect us. Regulatory agencies respect us,” she said.Adeyeye said she had spent 37 years living in the United States, where she worked as a professor for three decades, before returning to Nigeria to serve.She stated, “I lived in the U.S. for 37 years. I was a professor for 30 years. I retired happily. I came here to serve.”She expressed disappointment over what she described as a perception among some Nigerians that public service was primarily about personal gain.“Some Nigerians have aversion for service. It is, ‘What can I get from the country?’ We have rendered Nigerians useless because of what can I get. We have rendered Nigerians useless because of what is in it for my workers,” she said.Adeyeye said her motivation for accepting the NAFDAC appointment was to contribute to restoring Nigeria’s reputation.“I came here for service. I retired happily. I was ashamed of my country. I came to remove some of the shame. And the world is seeing it,” she said.Adeyeye said NAFDAC would continue to strengthen surveillance, enforcement, public education and collaboration with sister agencies to protect Nigerians from unsafe and counterfeit regulated products.She stressed, “Achieving a market free of fake and substandard regulated products is therefore a collective responsibility involving NAFDAC, sister agencies, other relevant stakeholders and the public,” she said.