The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has called for substantially tougher penalties for producers and distributors of fake regulated products after removing 7,210 non-compliant products from circulation during nationwide surveillance operations.
Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye said the agency’s post-marketing surveillance teams visited 5,738 facilities across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory between May and July 2026.
Food and water accounted for 3,633 of the products removed, while drugs and herbal products accounted for 2,459.
Adeyeye said NAFDAC had also investigated alleged counterfeiting involving CWay water bottles and Oral-B and Colgate toothpastes.
Persons allegedly connected to some of those operations were arrested, but the allegations remain subject to investigation and judicial determination.
The agency said it had already secured 64 counterfeiting convictions nationwide, with prison terms ranging from one to seven years without an option of fine.
Adeyeye argued that existing penalties were inadequate given the potential for counterfeit medicines, food and other products to cause serious injury or death.
She therefore called for amendments to relevant laws that could permit life imprisonment or, in the most serious cases, the death penalty.
That proposal would require legislative action and would be subject to constitutional and criminal-justice scrutiny before becoming law.
NAFDAC also cited earlier enforcement operations involving large seizures of counterfeit and expired medicines, foods, cosmetics and other regulated products.
Adeyeye said major raids in Lagos, Aba and Onitsha in 2025 resulted in the evacuation and destruction of more than 137 truckloads of products valued by the agency at over N1.5 trillion.
She urged members of the public to report suspected violations through official channels rather than treating social-media claims as proof that products were fake or unsafe.
The agency said laboratory analysis, inspection and formal investigation remained necessary before regulatory or criminal action could be taken.
Adeyeye also rejected calls for her resignation and defended the agency’s enforcement record since she assumed office.
NAFDAC said the wider objective was to move from seizures alone to deterrence through investigation, prosecution and stronger consumer awareness.
