21.5.2026
Fake drugs worth over N2 billion have been destroyed in Kaduna by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control
Speaking during the exercise at a dump site in Kaduna on Thursday, Martins Iluyomade, the director of investigation and enforcement at NAFDAC, and chairman of the Federal Task Force on counterfeit and fake drugs and unwholesome processed foods in Nigeria, said the destruction was aimed at preventing seized products from finding their way back into circulation.
“We are here today to destroy some counterfeit medicines that some people brought into this country through faking other people’s products.
“The current management of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control will not take that lightly,” he said.
According to him, NAFDAC has zero tolerance for counterfeiting, and everybody in the business will know that they are in hard times at this period.
He added that the destruction exercise was done in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Nigeria Customs Service.
He said, “It is a joint effort. We discovered that some people are bringing in these products through unapproved rules and using different means to clear them and declare them wrongly to Customs so that they can pass.
“The information was shared, and we swung into action to apprehend the products coming in through Kano Airport.”
He said that within the past two months, they were able to seize 503 cartons of Pregabalin capsules IP 3000mg, which is 11 million doses.
“We are destroying these drugs to show accountability, and to show that nobody is here to play games with the health of Nigerians.”
He cautioned Nigerians on how some manufacturers clone drugs already registered by taking the original drugs to different countries to be cloned. NAN