The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confirmed that Thursday’s violent attack on its officers at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex was a deliberate assassination attempt targeting senior enforcement officials during a raid on counterfeit and substandard goods.
According to the agency, the operation—led by Dr. Martins Iluyomade, Director of Investigation and Enforcement—was based on credible intelligence about large-scale sales of fake and banned products in the market. However, the enforcement exercise turned violent when armed hoodlums stormed the scene, demanding to identify the Task Force chairman. Over ₦25 million worth of operational vehicles belonging to NAFDAC and other security agencies were vandalised in the chaos.
Iluyomade, who also chairs the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs, described the assault as premeditated and said it was coordinated from within the market. “From reliable intelligence, this was planned. The market’s Chief Security Officer issued a directive on their internal platform ordering all cluster leaders to act immediately — that was the signal for the lockdown and assault,” he revealed.
Before the ambush began, the enforcement team had already seized several cartons of fake, banned, and unwholesome products. “They locked the gates and started throwing stones. We had to escape through three locked gates under attack. If not for the calmness and professionalism of the police and military with us, there would have been casualties,” he said.
NAFDAC condemned the act of violence and vowed to ensure that all perpetrators are brought to justice. Dr. Iluyomade recalled a similar incident in 2022 where an officer narrowly escaped death in the same market. “No individual or group is above the law,” he warned.
Speaking through Iluyomade, NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, described the incident as an attack on national health security and commended the police and military for protecting agency personnel. “NAFDAC remains fully alive to its responsibility of safeguarding the health of Nigerians. This incident will only strengthen our resolve to do more,” she affirmed.
Prof. Adeyeye disclosed that NAFDAC has intensified surveillance across Nigeria’s ports and airports, signing a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Customs Service to strengthen border monitoring. “We have intercepted and are destroying over 80 containers of fake and substandard goods,” she revealed, adding that some importers disguise pharmaceuticals as spare parts to evade detection.
She acknowledged that corruption at points of entry remains a major obstacle but said the agency is committed to dismantling criminal networks profiting from counterfeit drugs. “Every operation like this weakens their economic base. We will continue until this deadly trade is stamped out,” she said.
Adeyeye concluded that the Lagos attack underscores the growing dangers faced by NAFDAC enforcement teams in combating Nigeria’s booming fake drug market—a multibillion-naira enterprise that continues to endanger millions of lives.
