The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to direct the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), and other relevant agencies to intensify surveillance, inspections, and crackdowns on fake drug manufacturers and distributors nationwide.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent importance moved at plenary on Tuesday by Hon. Nnamdi Ezechi.
However, an Onitsha-based rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (INTERSOCIETY), accused NAFDAC of deliberately victimising some innocent traders in Onitsha.
INTERSOCIETY called on the agency to immediately withdraw Nigerian Army soldiers from Onitsha Drug Market and five adjoining others, where they were using the soldiers in the most unprofessional manner to keep the market perpetually shutdown.
Moving the motion in the House for more action to deter fake drug dealers, Ezechi cited the recent discovery of a warehouse and fake drug production factory in a village in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State, where counterfeit and expired pharmaceutical products, including injectables, were being produced and distributed for public consumption.
He said the illegal factory was engaged in the rebranding of expired drugs by altering their expiry dates and manufacturing fake medications, which posed grave danger to public health and safety.
Ezechi said the consumption of fake and substandard drugs could lead to severe health complications, drug resistance, treatment failures, and even loss of lives, thereby undermining the healthcare system in Nigeria.
The lawmaker expressed concern that the incident was not isolated, as similar cases of counterfeit drug manufacturing and distribution had been uncovered across the country, indicating a widespread public health crisis that required immediate intervention.
He condemned the circulation of fake and substandard drugs, which had contributed to the high mortality rate in Nigeria, with unsuspecting citizens consuming ineffective or harmful medications that worsened illnesses and caused avoidable deaths.
The lawmaker stressed that NAFDAC and other relevant agencies were responsible for regulating and ensuring the safety of pharmaceutical products in Nigeria, saying urgent measures must be taken to strengthen their enforcement mechanisms to prevent future harm to society.
The House condemned the criminal act of producing and distributing fake drugs, and commended the law enforcement agencies involved in uncovering the illegal operation in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area.
It urged “the federal government to immediately direct NAFDAC, the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), and other relevant agencies to intensify surveillance, inspections, and crackdowns on fake drug manufacturers and distributors nationwide”.
The House mandated its Committee on Health and the Committee on Drugs and Narcotics to investigate the proliferation of fake drugs in the country and engage with stakeholders to develop stronger policies for combating counterfeit pharmaceutical production.
It called on NAFDAC to increase public awareness campaigns on the dangers of fake drugs and introduce more advanced tracking and authentication systems to help consumers verify the authenticity of pharmaceutical products before purchase.
Additionally, the House urged the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with security agencies, to implement stricter penalties against individuals and organisations involved in the production and distribution of fake drugs, and ensure that culprits faced the full weight of the law.
NAFDAC had on two different raids in Onitsha recently announced the confiscation of large consignments of fake, adulterated and counterfeit drugs in the market, leading to the sealing of the bridge head market.
But INTERSOCIETY, in a press statement by its founder and chairman, Board of Trustees, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, said though it supported sanitisation of the system of fake drugs, it must be noted that NAFDAC was going about it the wrong way by sealing off other adjoining markets that had no dealing with drugs, and also punishing genuine drug dealers.
Umeagbalasi stated, “NAFDAC must refrain from further exposing the Nigerian military or officers and personnel and high commands of the Nigerian Armed Forces to unprofessionalism and corrupt practices.
“We are calling for immediate re-opening of the affected markets and refunding of not less than N20 billion being loses incurred by the innocent traders of the six affected markets since Sunday, February 9, 2025, particularly traders of the Onitsha Drug Market.”
The group listed adjoining markets not related to drug sales that were also sealed off by NAFDAC to include Oduwani, part of the Carpentry Tools (Power Tools and Allied) Market, the Surgical Line Market, the Plumbing Materials Market, the Ogbogwu Fashion Line Market, the Bridgehead Provision Market, and part of the Timber Dealers Market.
According to the group, “The above-named markets were shut down and taken over by soldiers of the Nigerian Army and their NAFDAC hirers – during which the NAFDAC field officials and leaders of the hired soldiers forced leaders of the affected markets to surrender the keys of their gates and lines and took possession of them till date.”
“Since then, it is not only that traders of the affected Onitsha Drug Market have incurred billions of naira loses amounting to not less than N20 billion, but have also been starved, threatened and forced out of their legitimate businesses.
“The worst of it all is that traders and leaders of the five unaffected markets have permanently been shut out and denied access to their shops and legitimate livelihoods.”
The group called on NAFDAC to immediately unseal the markets to allow traders dealing in legitimate products to return to their means of livelihood.
