The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised the alarm over alleged Chinese counterfeit syndicates that have shifted from importing fake products into Nigeria to establishing local manufacturing and distribution networks.
NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, disclosed this while speaking on intelligence gathered by the agency on the growing counterfeit trade in the country.
Iluyomade said investigations revealed that some foreign nationals allegedly involved in counterfeiting were now setting up manufacturing facilities and logistics networks in Nigeria to produce and distribute fake products locally.
“Before, to fake a product, you needed to go to China to bring it. Now, they are here with us,” he said.
He added that the syndicates allegedly identify products that are popular in the Nigerian market, send samples to China for replication and subsequently distribute the counterfeit versions locally through logistics companies reportedly owned by them.
According to Iluyomade, NAFDAC has begun systematically shutting down illegal logistics facilities allegedly operated by foreign nationals linked to the counterfeit networks.
The development comes amid growing concerns over the circulation of dangerous and substandard consumer products in Nigeria, including adulterated toothpaste, contaminated bottled water, fake cosmetics and unwholesome dairy products.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency had confiscated and destroyed regulated products worth more than N1.5 trillion during coordinated enforcement operations in Lagos and the South-East.
Adeyeye also disclosed that the agency secured 64 convictions against counterfeiters between June 2025 and June 2026, describing the figure as the highest number recorded by NAFDAC.
She said one of the convictions resulted in a five-year prison sentence for the operator of an illegal beverage laboratory in December.
NAFDAC further disclosed that legal proceedings were ongoing before federal courts against several suspects arrested in Kano, Sokoto, Delta and Anambra states over the alleged importation and distribution of counterfeit oral-care products.
The agency said it would continue to strengthen surveillance, investigation and enforcement operations to curb the production, distribution and sale of counterfeit and unwholesome regulated products across the country.
NAFDAC urged consumers to remain vigilant and avoid purchasing products from unverified sources as the agency intensifies its crackdown on counterfeit networks.
