Over 80 containers of fake goods seized as thugs ambush NAFDAC operatives in Lagos Trade Fair market

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has strongly condemned the violent attack on its enforcement officers during a regulatory operation at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex on Thursday, October 30.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the agency’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the operation, led by the Director of Investigation and Enforcement and Chairman of the Federal Task Force, Martins Iluyomade, was part of an ongoing effort to clamp down on counterfeit, substandard, and unwholesome products circulating in Nigerian markets.

Adeyeye said the enforcement exercise initially proceeded smoothly until a group of armed thugs launched a coordinated assault on the NAFDAC team, vandalising operational vehicles belonging to the agency and its supporting security operatives.

“The attackers demanded to see the Director and then proceeded to vandalise about ten operational vehicles belonging to NAFDAC and other security agencies,” the statement read.

She added that credible intelligence indicated that the attack was premeditated and specifically aimed at harming senior NAFDAC officials.

NAFDAC alleged that the market’s Chief Security Officer ordered all gates within the complex to be locked, effectively trapping the officials inside at the height of the assault. The agency noted that prior to the disruption, officers had already confiscated several cartons of counterfeit and banned products in line with the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Cap. C.34 LFN 2004.

“The prompt response of the police and military personnel attached to the operation prevented what could have been a fatal outcome,” Adeyeye said, commending the bravery of the security team.

“NAFDAC will not be intimidated or deterred from carrying out its statutory duty of safeguarding the health of the nation,” she added.

Addressing journalists on Saturday, Iluyomade described the incident as one of the most serious threats to NAFDAC’s enforcement operations to date. He revealed that the agency had destroyed more than 80 containers of counterfeit and substandard medicines and food products during the operation before the attack occurred.

“Enforcement has become increasingly dangerous for our officials, but it is a necessary duty,” Iluyomade stated, disclosing that ten operational vehicles, valued at over ₦25 billion, were vandalised during the violence.

He reaffirmed NAFDAC’s commitment to sustaining nationwide enforcement against fake and unsafe products, warning that perpetrators of the attack would be identified and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

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