ASSASSINS IN THE MARKET: INSIDE THE ORCHESTRATED ATTACK ON NAFDAC OFFICERS AT LAGOS TRADE FAIR COMPLEX

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has described Thursday’s bloody ambush on its enforcement officers at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex as a premeditated assassination attempt on senior officials of the agency.

The raid, which was meant to be a routine operation against fake and substandard products, quickly turned into a scene of chaos and violence, leaving a trail of destruction and fear in one of Lagos’s busiest commercial hubs.

According to the agency, the enforcement team, led by Dr. Martins Iluyomade, Director of Investigation and Enforcement and Chairman of the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs, was targeted by a network of market insiders who mobilised armed hoodlums to thwart the exercise.

“This was not a spontaneous attack,” Iluyomade told journalists at a weekend briefing in Lagos. “It was carefully planned and executed from within the market. We have intelligence showing that the market’s Chief Security Officer gave a coded instruction on their internal platform—an order for all cluster leaders to ‘act immediately’. That was the signal for the lockdown and the assault.”

The operation had commenced smoothly on Thursday morning following credible intelligence reports about the circulation of counterfeit and unwholesome goods within the market. The NAFDAC team had already seized several cartons of fake and banned products when chaos erupted.

Suddenly, gates were locked, and groups of armed men descended on the officials, pelting them with stones and attempting to break into their vehicles. About ten operational vehicles belonging to NAFDAC and partner security agencies were vandalised—losses estimated at over ?25 million.

“We were surrounded. The mob blocked all exits. It took the composure and bravery of the police and military personnel with us to avert bloodshed,” Iluyomade recounted. “We escaped through three gates under siege. It was a miracle no one was killed.”

This was not the first time NAFDAC’s officers had faced violence at the Trade Fair Complex. In 2022, another enforcement operation nearly claimed the life of an officer. But this latest incident, the agency insists, was not just resistance—it was an attempted assassination.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, condemned the attack in strong terms, describing it as “an assault on national health security.”

“Those who peddle fake and substandard products are merchants of death,” she said. “They endanger lives and compromise the integrity of our markets. No level of intimidation will make us back down.”

Adeyeye commended the Nigeria Police Force and the military for their swift intervention and reiterated that the agency would pursue every legal avenue to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The NAFDAC boss disclosed that the agency had intensified surveillance at Nigeria’s entry points—ports and airports—where many of these illicit goods make their way into the country.

She revealed that NAFDAC recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to strengthen joint inspections and intelligence-sharing mechanisms at all points of entry.

“Just in recent weeks, over 80 containers of counterfeit and substandard goods have been intercepted and destroyed,” Adeyeye said. “Some importers disguise pharmaceuticals as spare parts or electronics to evade detection. We are breaking these networks, one shipment at a time.”

While acknowledging that corruption and collusion at border points remain obstacles, Adeyeye maintained that NAFDAC is undeterred.

“Every successful operation weakens the criminal cartels. We will not stop until this trade in poison is stamped out,” she vowed.

The Lagos Trade Fair attack underscores the increasing danger faced by regulatory and enforcement officers battling Nigeria’s thriving counterfeit economy—an illicit industry estimated to be worth billions of naira and responsible for countless preventable deaths each year.

For NAFDAC, the message from Thursday’s ambush was unmistakable: the merchants of fake drugs and substandard products are ready to kill to protect their business.

But as Prof. Adeyeye affirmed, the agency is equally determined to fight back.

“We will not be intimidated by threats or violence. Our mission is to safeguard the health of Nigerians—and no criminal network is powerful enough to stop that.”