Operatives of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) have raided and sealed an illegal herbal product manufacturing facility in the Agege area of Lagos State, seizing illicit equipment and raw materials valued at over ₦500 million.
During the enforcement operation, NAFDAC regulatory officers arrested the facility manager, identified as 39-year-old Abdullazeez Saidu, while a manhunt has been launched for the company’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, who fled prior to the raid.
The crackdown followed investigative intelligence and media reports detailing the proliferation of unverified herbal remedies bearing cloned and fraudulent regulatory approval numbers across Lagos markets.
According to NAFDAC, surveillance conducted by its enforcement team led to the discovery of three variants of an unapproved herbal mixture, Asheitu Adams Bitters, actively being packaged and distributed for public consumption.
A cross-check on NAFDAC’s Automated Product Administration and Monitoring System (NAPAMS) portal revealed that the registration code printed on the herbal bitters—A7-1827L—belonged to an entirely different pharmaceutical product, Greentol Cough Syrup.
Inspectors at the Agege site uncovered unhygienic, unregulated processing conditions, seizing, 200-litre drums and plastic buckets filled with concentrated ethanol ,tree barks and unverified botanical materials immersed in industrial solvent tanks, pre-printed labels, cloned registration seals, and bottling equipment evaluated at over half a billion naira.
In an official statement released on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, NAFDAC reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy regarding illegal food and drug manufacturing, emphasizing that consuming unapproved herbal concoctions processed with industrial solvents poses severe risks of organ failure and toxic poisoning.
The suspect remains in custody at NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate for detailed interrogation prior to formal court prosecution.
Meanwhile, NAFDAC has appealed to the public to report suspicious neighborhood manufacturing operations through its dedicated toll-free hotlines (0800-1-623322) or via official email (reforms@nafdac.gov.ng).