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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Counterfeit crisis: NAFDAC blames Chinese dealers amid backlash

From The Punch · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Nigeria’s drug and food regulator says Chinese counterfeiters living in the country have established local production and logistics networks for fake and substandard goods.
  • NAFDAC says it has shut logistics companies linked to the trade and made arrests and seizures over counterfeit toothpaste in several states.
  • The agency says it destroyed or seized more than 1.54 trillion naira in fake and substandard products nationwide since 2023, intensifying public concern about the health and economic costs.

Nigeria’s counterfeit-goods crisis has taken a new turn, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. The agency says Chinese counterfeiters who once operated from abroad are now living in Nigeria and running production and distribution channels inside the country.

Martins Iluyomade, NAFDAC’s director of investigation and enforcement, said counterfeiters can now identify products with strong demand, arrange for them to be made in China and distribute them in Nigeria without leaving the country. He also said some of them own logistics companies used to bring the fake goods into circulation. NAFDAC said it has been shutting down those companies.

The agency’s claims come as manufacturers, medical experts and economists warn that the spread of adulterated and substandard products is damaging legitimate businesses, endangering consumers and weakening the economy. Public concern intensified over the weekend, with social media posts highlighting allegedly fake toothpaste, creams, contaminated bottled water and adulterated yoghurt drinks.

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.

· Martins IluyomadeNAFDAC’s enforcement director described the agency’s findings about counterfeiters operating inside Nigeria.

NAFDAC Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye said the agency destroyed regulated products worth more than 1.5 trillion naira in a coordinated operation across Lagos and the South-East between February and March 2025. Since 2023, the agency has destroyed or seized more than 1.54 trillion naira worth of fake and substandard goods nationwide.

Iluyomade said NAFDAC had received complaints about counterfeit Oral-B and Colgate toothpaste. The agency has made arrests and seizures in Kano, Sokoto, Delta and Onitsha, and is prosecuting two people in court for importing fake toothpaste brands.

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.

· Martins IluyomadeHe outlined enforcement action following complaints about counterfeit toothpaste.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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