Victor EzejaThe ongoing raid of various drug markets across Nigeria by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has generated wide reactions.
While some expressed outrage and hailed officials of the agency for waging a war against the proliferation of fake and substandard drugs, others have accused them of disrupting trade and sabotaging the economy through the closure of affected drug markets and confiscation of goods deemed as fake or substandard.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIt is said that when you fight corruption in Nigeria, it fights back. Some of the critics accused the agency of unfairness and targeting non-drug sections of some markets.
However, responding to one of those criticisms against the agency’s crackdown on fake drugs and other illegal activities, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, during one of her inspection visits to the Lagos drug market, emphasised that their operations are solely focused on safeguarding public health and not disrupting trade as widely alleged. She stated that people cannot continue to die needlessly because of trade.
“We are not disturbing trade, we are protecting lives. We could not have done it ourselves without the NSA. It is a security risk for our country. What the BBC showed will break your heart. Young men who have been rendered useless,” Adeyeye said in a video posted on NAFDAC’s X handle.
“So, what NAFDAC is doing is what NAFDAC is supposed to do – safeguarding health. There is no politics in what we are doing. Most of the shops are not registered by the PCN. PCN registers sites and people that are working on the sites,” she added.
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NAFDAC has raided some drug markets in different parts of the country in recent times including Abia, Anambra, and Lagos. The agency started the operations from the Idumota Open Drug Market in Lagos, the Ariaria Drug Market in Aba, Abia State, and the Bridge Market in Onitsha, Anambra State on February 10.
Officials of NAFDAC uncovered large consignments of fake and substandard drugs during enforcement exercises in the drug markets. The DG said the exercise has so far led to the discovery of illicit drugs worth billions of naira.
In Abia, the agency said that through reliable intelligence, it uncovered a massive depot for fake and expired drugs. In a video shared on Facebook, NAFDAC showed two buildings with multiple floors in Umumeje, a community in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of the state, where it said fake and expired drugs were stored, repackaged, and resold.
It said the warehouse was located close to the Ariaria International Market in Aba, the commercial hub of the southeastern state.
The agency said 140 tonnes of expired drugs were evacuated from the warehouse at Umumeje, excluding products seized from drug shops at Ariaria International Market.
“A total of 178 drug samples collected during the operation will undergo laboratory analysis,” it added.
Anambra Drug Market Raid
In Anambra, NAFDAC announced that its officials have seized not less than 10 trucks loaded with fake, expired, and falsified drugs at the Bridge Head Market in Onitsha, the commercial city of the State.
Dr. Martins Iluyomade, NAFDAC Director, South-East Zone, stated that the confiscated trucks would be sent to the agency’s control room for additional inspections before being destroyed.
Iluyomade said that by using detecting machines and scanners, they were able to detect the fake drugs. He explained that the seized drugs consisted of expired, banned, substandard, deflective, repackaged, and recalled products.
He highlighted the health implications, stating that consumption of such drugs could lead to death or permanent disability of the consumer. “The seizure of the products is to eliminate the risk of their reintroduction into the market and a proof of the agency’s resolve to safeguard the health of the people,” he stated.
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The NAFDAC director revealed that some of the drug dealers had machines used to rebrand, repackage, and alter the expiry dates of drugs and other medical products.
After about a week, of the enforcement exercise, NAFDAC shut down the market for proper inspection, leading to traders lamenting their losses.
NAFDAC also shared a video showing where its officials discovered prohibited drugs hidden inside shops in the plumbing materials line at the Onitsha Bridgehead.
Lagos Drug Market Raid
In Lagos, NAFDAC said its officials discovered large consignments of fake drugs during its enforcement exercise at the Idumota open drug market.
In a post on its X handle, on Tuesday, 18th February 2025 NAFDAC said its officials seized: banned drugs such as Analgin; drugs that were not properly stored such as vaccines meant for cold chain storage, Oxytocin for maternal health- improperly stored outside the cold chain; and donated medical products that were diverted.
The agency said its preliminary investigations revealed the suspected dealer was supplying the products to neighbouring West African countries like Liberia.
It also revealed that some unregistered narcotics, Methamphetamine, (mkpuru mmiri), and counterfeit GSK medicines were uncovered in the market, with some hidden in stored in toilets.
In a video shared on the NAFDAC X handle, an official of the agency was seen displaying a brand of condom he said had expired but was repackaged and put out for sale.
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The NAFDAC DG said the agency has closed over 4,000 shops in Onitsha, over 3,000 in Lagos, and another 4,000 in Aba since the operations commenced.
Trade Disruption Claims by Traders
While NAFDAC continued with the crackdown on fake drugs, traders in the Onitsha market accused the officials of targeting non-drug sections during the operation. The agency, however, said that credible intelligence led it to search these areas, leading to the discovery of large quantities of illicit pharmaceuticals, especially in the plumbing material line. It said some of the items discovered included unregistered narcotics, banned tramadol, and counterfeit drugs concealed within these shops.
Analysts said the cry of traders about trade disruption cannot be compared with the level of damage done to public health as a result distribution of fake and substandard medicine.
The Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who visited the open drug market on Saturday, 22nd February, queried how drugs that have been banned globally and locally were being manufactured in India and passed through Nigeria’s ports into the local markets.
Way forward
Soludo called on the federal government to increase checks at the points of entry to get rid of counterfeit and prohibited drugs in the country.
Some analysts have also called for stricter measures to curb the proliferation of fake drugs across the country.
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While decrying the menace of illicit hard drug distribution, financial analyst, Kalu Aja, said: “If any market, particularly in the South East and Nigeria in general, is selling fake or expired drugs, shut it down, leave it shut down until you get a written guarantee from every shop owner and Market Exco that if fake drugs should be traced back to shop/market, then it’s closed permanently.
“Then mandate that all drugs sold in Nigeria must have that SMS text verifier on them.”
Kelvin Emmanuel, an economist and public affairs analyst expressed concern that quite a number of the drugs manufactured and sold in Nigeria don’t meet the good manufacturing practices (GMP) standard set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). He said the first step in addressing the challenge is for NAFDAC “to audit ‘all’ the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) imported into Nigeria and ensure it meets up with cGMP.”
Also speaking on ways that regulators can effectively monitor drug trade across the country, Nigerian journalist, Babajide Kolade Otitoju, during TVC’s Journalist Hangout on Monday, 25 February suggested that the government should build specific markets for drug trade.
He said this would enable regulators like NAFDAC, NDLEA, and other government agencies to easily target and intercept fake drugs and deal with the perpetrators without affecting traders dealing in other goods as witnessed in the Onitsha Bridge Head and Ariaria markets.
“There should be specialized markets for drugs. With that, it becomes easy for regulators to pinpoint the bad ones,” he stated.
He also called for stronger security cover for NAFDAC officials going for enforcement operations.
Soludo also hinted that his administration is already building what he called “a coordinated wholesale drug centre” in Oba, Idemili South LGA that will accommodate the new and standardised drug market in the state. “This is our own contribution to ending the current chaotic market environment where fake and counterfeit drugs thrive,” Soludo stated.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
