NAFDAC blames Chinese dealers following backlash over counterfeits

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has linked the growing spread of counterfeit and substandard products in Nigeria to Chinese counterfeiters who, according to the agency, have established production and logistics operations within the country.

NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, said in Lagos on Monday, September 7, that recent investigations showed that some counterfeiters who previously operated from China had moved closer to the Nigerian market by setting up plants and distribution channels locally.

“Before, to fake a product, you needed to go to China to bring it. Now, you don’t need to go. They are here (in Nigeria) with us. They are the ones who will identify the product that will be moving, send it to their country (China), and then come here and distribute it to our people (Nigerians) without having to travel,” he said.

Iluyomade described the development as a “new trend making it (fake goods situation) look this serious,” adding that investigations had also uncovered logistics companies allegedly owned by Chinese counterfeiters. He said the “Chinese people (counterfeiters) own the logistics companies which they used to bring these (fake goods) things,” adding that NAFDAC had been shutting down such companies.

The agency’s claims come amid growing concern among manufacturers, medical professionals and economists over the spread of counterfeit and substandard goods, with warnings that the trend is harming legitimate businesses, endangering consumers and damaging the economy.

NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency destroyed regulated products valued at more than N1.5 trillion in a coordinated enforcement operation across Lagos and the South-East between February and March 2025. According to the agency, more than N1.54 trillion worth of counterfeit, substandard and other non-compliant goods have been seized or destroyed nationwide since 2023.

Concern over fake consumer products also intensified on social media over the weekend, with Nigerians, including influencers Scott Iguma and Aproko Doctor, raising alarm over allegedly counterfeit toothpaste, creams, contaminated bottled water and adulterated yoghurt drinks.

NAFDAC said it had received complaints through its official channels about counterfeit toothpaste, particularly products carrying the Oral-B and Colgate brands. Iluyomade said the agency had already launched enforcement operations in several states.

“We have an intelligence report on (fake toothpastes) and have been working on it: we’ve made a lot of arrests and seizures, both in Kano and Sokoto states, Delta State and Onitsha (in Anambra State),” he said. He added that NAFDAC was prosecuting two people over the alleged importation of counterfeit toothpaste brands.

Adeyeye said the agency had intensified efforts against counterfeit, falsified, substandard and unregistered products, citing recent enforcement operations at the Upper Iweka drug market in Onitsha. Iluyomade also said NAFDAC had recorded significant progress in prosecuting offenders. Between “June 2025 and June 2026, NAFDAC hit a record of 64 convictions. The highest in its history,” he said.

He added that the agency had secured prison sentences in some cases. “We go through the process. In December, a judge handed five years of imprisonment to one lab that counterfeited drinks, convicting them on all eight grounds,” Iluyomade said.