The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has handed over 25 containers filled with unregistered and prohibited pharmaceutical products to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) at Apapa Port.
The handover follows the strategic Memorandum of Understanding signed between NCS and NAFDAC in November 2024, under which coordinated enforcement efforts have significantly improved interdiction of contraband.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, emphasised that the service’s dedication to protecting public health and national security, noting that through intelligence-led enforcement and real-time collaboration with regulatory agencies, the service had transformed its operational effectiveness.
Adeniyi explained that the 25 containers comprise 21 forty-foot containers and 4 twenty-foot containers containing predominantly unregistered pharmaceutical products, including sexual enhancement drugs such as Redsun and Hyegra sildenafil citrate products, codeine-containing cough syrups including CSC brands, antibiotic injections like oxytetracycline and artesunate, pain relief medications containing diclofenac sodium and paracetamol, skin lightening creams marketed as Gbogbonise and Skin Chemist hip and breast enlargement products, and various tablets bearing fake NAFDAC registration numbers.
According to him, “the MOU framework enables Customs and NAFDAC to conduct coordinated operations and joint investigations, systematically tracing illicit pharmaceutical sources and deploying targeted enforcement strategies against criminal networks.
“Inter-agency collaboration and intelligence sharing have been central to our enforcement philosophy, and under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, this enhanced cooperation has delivered measurable results in protecting public health and combating illicit trade.”
He hinted that the seizures also include expired food products such as margarine and chocolate, veterinary medications including albendazole bolus tablets, antimalarial drugs like artepharm-artequick, and consumer goods such as Crusader soap, reflecting a sophisticated and diversified contraband portfolio that poses significant threats to public health, consumer safety, and regulatory integrity.
