NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, disclosed this in Lagos on Monday, September 7, during discussions on the agency’s efforts to curb the circulation of fake products.
According to Iluyomade, recent investigations showed that some counterfeiters who previously operated from China had moved closer to the Nigerian market by establishing local production plants and distribution networks.
“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,” he said.
He explained that some of the alleged counterfeiters identify products with strong demand in Nigeria, reproduce them and distribute the fake versions locally.
Iluyomade also claimed that investigations uncovered logistics companies allegedly owned by some Chinese counterfeiters and used to facilitate the distribution of fake goods.
“The Chinese people (counterfeiters) own the logistics companies which they used to bring these (fake goods) things,” he said, adding that NAFDAC had been shutting down some of the companies.
The agency’s warning comes amid growing concerns from manufacturers, medical professionals and economists over the spread of counterfeit and substandard products, which they say threaten consumers, legitimate businesses and the wider economy.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, had previously disclosed that the agency destroyed regulated products worth more than N1.5 trillion during coordinated enforcement operations across Lagos and the South-East between February and March 2025.
The agency also said that more than N1.54 trillion worth of counterfeit, substandard and other non-compliant products had been seized or destroyed nationwide since 2023.
Concern over fake consumer products intensified on social media over the weekend, with Nigerians, including influencers Scott Iguma and Aproko Doctor, raising alarms over allegedly counterfeit toothpaste, creams, contaminated bottled water and adulterated yoghurt drinks.
NAFDAC said it had received complaints through its official channels concerning counterfeit toothpaste, particularly products bearing the Oral-B and Colgate brands.
Iluyomade said the agency had launched enforcement operations in several states and had made arrests and seizures linked to the alleged production and distribution of fake toothpaste.
“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 products.
Adeyeye said the agency had intensified its crackdown on counterfeit, falsified, substandard and unregistered products, citing recent enforcement operations at the Upper Iweka drug market in Onitsha.
Iluyomade further disclosed that NAFDAC secured 64 convictions between June 2025 and June 2026, describing the figure as the highest recorded in the agency’s history.
He said some offenders had also received prison sentences as part of the agency’s enforcement efforts.
“In December, a judge handed five years of imprisonment to one lab that counterfeited drinks, convicting them on all eight grounds,” Iluyomade said.
NAFDAC said it would continue enforcement operations against counterfeiters and other operators involved in the production, importation and distribution of unregistered and substandard products.
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