Death By Counterfeit Products
By Kazeem Akintunde
In September, 2026, the nation was on the edge after the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC) confirmed the death of 48 persons in Ondo State, following the consumption of locally prepared alcoholic and herbal concoction. Another182 others took critically ill and were treated in several hospitals before five of them became blind permanently.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who broke the news to a shocked nation, said that the tragedy affected several communities, including New Town, Odole, Okele, Orita Odigbo, Araromi-Obu and Oniparaga, all situated within Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.
She said that samples of the herbal concoction taken to laboratory indicated that 11 of the samples have cannabis indica, while chemical analysis with gas chromatography confirmed the presence of high concentration of methanol. According to her, methanol is a highly toxic substance known to cause severe health effects, including blindness, organ failure, and death.
Adeyeye stated that methanol in oral preparations is extremely dangerous, and ingestion can cause severe poisoning, leading to blindness, organ failure, and death.
The state government immediately banned the sale and consumption of herbal concoctions in the state, while 15 suspects linked with the production of the herbal drinks were subsequently arrested by the police. Two months after those 48 victims were reported dead, nothing has been heard of the case. Nigerians have moved on to more ‘important’ and pressing matters. As we say in our local parlance, “Nigeria has happened” to those 48 people that lost their lives in Ondo.
Just last week in Benue State, three people were reported dead and 14 others hospitalised after consuming another brand of herbal mixtures in Igede Community, Oju Local Government Area of the state. Four of the 14 people receiving treatment at the General Hospital were reported to be in critical condition. Three men were said to have hawked the deadly herbal mixtures in the town during the Ihiejwo market day in Oju Township. Panic gripped the town when those who bought the mixtures and consumed them started dropping dead, with others developing critical symptoms. The Chairman of Oju Local Government Area, Jackson Ominyi, confirmed the incident, saying that the suspected sellers have been arrested and taken to the State Police Command headquarters in Makurdi.
The epidemic of fake and sub-standard products in Nigeria is not new. Food, drinks, water and drugs are now traps for poisoning to unsuspecting consumers. Wherever you turn, you are more than likely to come across fake and sub-standard products produced by Nigerians for consumption by fellow Nigerians. It is so clear now that Nigerians are in the rat race to outdo one another in their quest to make money at all cost and at the expense of fellow humans. Nigerians often discuss counterfeit products in respect of intellectual property, loss of revenue, and unfair competition
While those concerns are legitimate, they barely scratch the surface. When fake medicines compromise treatment, adulterated food threaten public health, or substandard vehicle components fail, counterfeiting becomes a matter of life and death. We must therefore stop treating counterfeit products as an ordinary market nuisance. They constitute a serious threat to public safety, consumer confidence, and economic development. The battle against counterfeit goods is, ultimately, a battle to protect lives.
Nigeria’s vast informal economy, porous borders, complex distribution networks, and uneven enforcement create opportunities for counterfeiters to thrive. From open markets and roadside shops to digital platforms, unsuspecting consumers may encounter products that imitate trusted brands but fail to meet basic safety and quality standards.
The danger is particularly acute in the pharmaceutical sector. A falsified medicine may contain no active ingredient, the wrong substance, or an insufficient dosage. For someone seeking treatment for malaria, an infection, or another serious illness, taking such a product can delay appropriate care, worsen the condition, and potentially result in death. Substandard antimicrobial medicines can also contribute to antimicrobial resistance, making infections harder to treat.
But the risks extend beyond medicines. Counterfeit vehicle spare parts can compromise road safety. Substandard electrical cables and components can increase the risk of fires. Adulterated food and beverages can expose consumers to harmful contaminants, while fake cosmetics may cause skin injuries and other health complications. The tragedy is that consumers often cannot distinguish genuine products from sophisticated imitations simply by examining their packaging.
For low-income households, the situation is even more complicated. With purchasing power under pressure, a product offered at a significantly lower price can appear irresistible. Yet, what seems like a bargain may carry hidden costs that no family should have to bear. Poverty must never become a gateway through which dangerous products gain access to Nigerians’ homes.
All the regulatory agencies established by the government such as the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), NAFDAC, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Agency (FCCPC) are all playing catch up with the powerful cabals involved in those industries.
Although security agencies have been on the necks of many of these dare-devil producers, it has not really deterred them from their nefarious activities. In September, Police sealed an illegal alcoholic drinks factory in Yafin, Badagry, and arrested 48-year-old Anaebo Hilary, recovering adulterated drinks, empty bottles, wine labels, and production equipment. NAFDAC, in October, also uncovered a massive counterfeit drinks and alcohol operation at Zamfara Plaza within the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos. Two suspects, Chibuzor Okafor and William John were arrested and over N2billion worth of counterfeit wines, whiskies such as Hennessy, Jack Daniel’s and Jameson, as well as revalidated expired energy drinks were seized.
In addition, the NSCDC busted an unregistered fake fruit juice factory in Aradagun, Badagry, arresting two women and seizing production lines and fake NAFDAC numbers.
As a result of consistent consumption of these adulterated products, chronic kidney disease and kidney failure (end-stage renal disease) are now major public health concerns in Nigeria. Approximately, between 11 and 14 per cent of Nigerians (roughly 25 to 38 million people) live with some form of chronic kidney disease. Health experts are also reporting 9,000 new cases of end-stage-kidney failure every month, translating to more than 110,000 new cases annually.
Another internal organ that is also susceptible to damage when adulterated food, drinks, and drugs become the daily companion of people is the liver. In Nigeria, an estimated 18.2 million to 20/7 million people live with chronic viral hepatitis. Nigeria bears one of the highest burdens of Hepatitis B globally, ranking third worldwide with hundreds of thousands of new infections reported each year.
Compounded by the lack of adequate care and in some cases, money to adequately fund its treatment, many Nigerians simply return home to await death. Most chronic diseases that are known to affect the elderly in the society are now being picked up by children and young adults due to what we consume.
Alarmed at the number of Nigerians that are being killed through the consumption of fake and adulterated products, the House of Representatives and the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) have urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency over the widespread circulation of fake, counterfeit, and substandard drugs and consumer products in the country. The lawmakers last week, moved a motion of urgent public importance, calling on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on fake, expired, and substandard food, drug, and beverage products in the country. They also urged the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to propose harsher penalties, including life imprisonment for fake drug producers and heavy fines for guilty business men and women in the trade.
PSN also warned that drug diversion, illicit trafficking, and counterfeit have become a national security threat that fuels banditry and public health risks. While PSN highlighted that NAFDAC destroyed fake and substandard products worth N1.5 trillion between June 2025 and June 2026, it is like a drop in the ocean, as the cabal in the sector remains undaunted.
Now that the lawmakers and officials of regulatory agencies are pushing for stronger laws to deal with the menace of fake and substandard products across the country, it is time for those agencies to also collaborate and push for stronger inter-agency coordination. The PCN, NAFDAC, SON, and the NDLEA must work together to crack down on open drug markets and illegal manufacturing sites across the country. The Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and other security agencies must be ready to work with those agencies to identify the big wigs or sponsors of the sordid trade and bring them to book. Only God knows the number of lives that is being lost daily to fake and substandard products in Nigeria as we speak.
Raiding warehouses, confiscating fake products, and destroying seized goods are necessary interventions. However, enforcement cannot end with press photographs of seized merchandise. Authorities must identify the financiers, manufacturers, importers, and distributors behind these operations and ensure that offenders face prosecution.
Investigations should follow the money and expose the networks that enable counterfeit products to circulate. Courts must process cases efficiently, while penalties should reflect the seriousness of the offences and the harm inflicted on consumers. Nigeria needs to dismantle the counterfeit business model, not merely confiscate its products.
Again, technology offers opportunities to make counterfeiting more difficult. Manufacturers should adopt product authentication systems, traceable batch numbers, tamper-evident packaging, and digital verification tools that allow consumers to confirm authenticity. Regulators must expand public education, particularly on identifying suspicious products and reporting suspected counterfeiting. Online marketplaces should strengthen seller verification and remove dangerous goods promptly when credible evidence emerges.
Consumers also have a responsibility to exercise caution. Medicines should be purchased from legitimate, licensed outlets, while suspiciously cheap products deserve closer scrutiny. Where verification systems are available, buyers should use them. But responsibility cannot be transferred entirely to consumers. It is unreasonable to expect an ordinary Nigerian to possess the technical knowledge required to distinguish a sophisticated counterfeit from a genuine product. Manufacturers and regulators must make verification accessible, while the state must ensure that unsafe goods are detected before they reach the public.
Public enlightenment should also be done by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) on the danger of producing and selling fake and substandard products. While the producers are interested in making money, they should be told in clear terms that their family members may also fall victim by consuming the harmful products they produce. May God save us from ourselves in Nigeria.
See you next week.
