Nigeria has continued to remain a major distribution hub for counterfeit, falsified and substandard medicines despite years of enforcement operations, repeated raids and seizures worth more than N1.1 trillion.
BusinessDay’s analysis of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) enforcement records between 2023 and 2025 shows that the agency has repeatedly returned to the same pharmaceutical distribution hubs despite years of arrests and product seizures.
Among the most prominent markets are Bridge Head Market in Onitsha, Eziukwu (Cemetery) Market in Aba, Idumota Open Drug Market and the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos.
These markets are not ordinary retail centres. They serve as some of Nigeria’s largest pharmaceutical distribution hubs, supplying medicines to pharmacies, patent medicine vendors and informal drug sellers across the country.
Same markets, different raids
