DG alleges attempt on official’s life during raid
The International Centre for Commerce (ICC), Lagos, was partially shut down as officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), led by its Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, and heavily armed soldiers and mobile police officers stormed Balogun Business Association (BBA) at the complex.
According to witnesses, NAFDAC officials and the heavily armed soldiers and mobile police officers came in eight trucks. They said that immediately they got to the complex, they began to raid shops and warehouses confiscating products into their waiting truck.
According to them, the action caused panic in the complex and when some of the traders came out of their shops to watch what was going on, the mobile police officers started firing tear gas and live bullets at the traders and visitors to scare them away.
They said that many of the traders sustained injuries while scampering for dear lives, closing their shops and leaving the complex immediately. According to them, the leadership of the market were not informed before the raid, adding that it was unusual for NAFDAC officials to come into the complex with armed soldiers.
As a result of the incident, the leadership of the complex, led by Oscar Odogwu, on Friday morning, urged the members to desist from anything that would attract the regulatory body into the complex like dealing in fake and expired products.
Odogwu told the traders that they could not stop the regulatory body from coming into the complex for their official work. He warned that anyone or group of people that wanted to cause trouble or protest against NAFDAC officials in the complex would be dealt with accordingly and handed over to the police for prosecution.
He advised members and visitors to be law-abiding and to go about their businesses as the issues would be resolved amicably.
MEANWHILE, NAFDAC has alleged that the attack on its enforcement officials during the raid on fake and substandard products was a pre-planned assassination attempt.
During a press briefing to journalists in Apapa at the weekend, the Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, claimed that the assassination attempt was targeted at the agency’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Dr Martins Iluyomade, who also serves as Chairman of the Federal Task Force.
According to Adeyeye’s statement, the exercise carried out on October 30, 2025, following credible intelligence, reportedly began peacefully until a group of armed thugs stormed the scene, demanding the identity of the task force chairman and attacking officials.
Adeyeye, who was represented by Iluyomade at the briefing, said that chaos began after officials of the agency had already discovered and confiscated several cartons of fake, banned and unwholesome products, in violation of the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, Cap. C.34 LFN 2004.
She disclosed that the agency managed to evacuate four trucks of the seized products valued at N500 million from the market, but had to abandon others due to the intensity of the attack.
The DG accused some market owners of hiring mercenaries armed with dangerous weapons to disrupt the operation. She said all cluster leaders of the market shut the four gates, trapping the officials as the attackers launched their assault.
About 10 operational vehicles valued at over N25 billion, belonging to NAFDAC and other security agencies were vandalised during the chaos, she said.
The NAFDAC boss, however, linked the latest attack to the previous enforcement operations in Aba and Onitsha markets, noting that the agency had received intelligence reports regarding the attack two months ago.
