The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has linked the growing circulation of counterfeit and substandard products in Nigeria to Chinese counterfeiters who have established operations and distribution networks in the country.
NAFDAC Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, disclosed this in an interview with in Lagos on Monday, saying investigations had uncovered Chinese nationals involved in the production, importation and distribution of fake goods within Nigeria.
According to Iluyomade, counterfeit operations have evolved from products being manufactured abroad and shipped to Nigeria to counterfeiters establishing plants and logistics channels locally.
He said the development had made it easier for counterfeiters to identify products in demand, replicate them and distribute the fake versions through established networks without having to travel outside the country.
Iluyomade described the development as a new trend that had contributed significantly to the worsening counterfeit goods crisis.
He added that NAFDAC had discovered that some Chinese nationals involved in counterfeiting also owned logistics companies used to move fake products into different parts of the country.
The enforcement director said the agency had begun shutting down such logistics companies as part of its efforts to disrupt the supply chains supporting counterfeit products.
The revelation comes amid growing concerns from manufacturers, medical experts and economists over the increasing availability of fake and substandard goods in Nigeria.
Stakeholders have warned that counterfeit products are not only threatening legitimate businesses but are also putting consumers’ lives at risk and undermining economic growth.
The scale of the problem was highlighted by NAFDAC’s enforcement activities. The agency’s Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said regulated products worth more than N1.5tn were destroyed during a coordinated operation across Lagos and the South-East between February and March 2025.
She added that NAFDAC had destroyed or seized more than N1.54tn worth of counterfeit and substandard products nationwide since 2023.
Public concern over the issue intensified on social media over the weekend, with Nigerians, including influencers Scott Iguma and Aproko Doctor, raising alarms about the circulation of fake consumer products.
Reports and viral posts have drawn attention to counterfeit toothpaste, creams, contaminated bottled water and adulterated yoghurt drinks.
NAFDAC confirmed that it had received complaints through its official channels concerning fake toothpaste, particularly counterfeit versions of Oral-B and Colgate products.
Iluyomade said the agency had already launched investigations into the matter, resulting in arrests and seizures in Kano, Sokoto, Delta and Onitsha in Anambra State.
He disclosed that two suspects were currently facing prosecution over the importation of counterfeit toothpaste brands.
Adeyeye, meanwhile, said NAFDAC had intensified its campaign against counterfeit, falsified, substandard and unregistered products, citing the agency’s recent enforcement operation at the Upper Iweka drug market in Onitsha.
Iluyomade also disclosed that the agency recorded 64 convictions between June 2025 and June 2026, describing the figure as the highest number of convictions achieved by NAFDAC in a single year.
He cited a December conviction in which a court sentenced an operator of a laboratory involved in counterfeiting drinks to five years in prison after the accused was found guilty on all eight counts.
NAFDAC said it would continue to pursue the prosecution of offenders while strengthening enforcement and intelligence operations aimed at dismantling networks involved in the manufacture, importation and distribution of fake and harmful products.
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