The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has detained a suspected importer of counterfeit drugs in Aba, Lazarus Onwukwe, believed to be the foremost dealer of expired drugs in the South-East region.
Vanguard reports that a collaborative team comprising NAFDAC, the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police, and the Department of State Services (DSS), acting on intelligence, raided Onwukwe’s residence in Umuocheala, Osisioma Ngwa area of Aba, uncovering what the agency described as the largest fake and expired drug factory and warehouse in South-East Nigeria.
Sources indicate that during a raid in February, NAFDAC discovered a small-scale drug production facility within the buildings where expired products were repackaged, revalidated, and rebranded for market circulation.
In an interview with Vanguard at the suspect’s residence, the Deputy Director in charge of Investigation and Enforcement for NAFDAC in South-East and South-South, Pharmacist Omoyeni Babatunji, stated that Onwukwe was apprehended while attempting to leave the premises after covertly entering.
Babatunji revealed that following the February operation, NAFDAC removed 14 trucks loaded with tons of fake and expired drugs from Onwukwe’s twin two-storey duplex, which included boys’ quarters and additional bungalows.
The property was sealed, and the suspect had been evading authorities since February.
“Those who were here in February can recall that even the gate got broken, and we had to fix it and put a government seal on this place. The two vehicles, a Highlander and a Camry, that we saw here back then, are still at the Area Command Headquarters here in Aba.
“Because of the surveillance that we put in place on this building back then, we never expected that this man would even make an attempt to come because he has been sending a lot of people to our different offices, but we kept insisting that he must be brought.
However, he thought that the government had forgotten about him, but as you can see, that’s not the case at all.
“We moved around the whole house back then, and everywhere was full of expired drugs, which we took to our lab to confirm. Suddenly, today, we are seeing everywhere occupied by tenants. We have also confirmed that we don’t have any drugs in the building again.
However, this morning (Thursday morning), our continuous surveillance team which was formed in synergy with other sister agents, yielded a result, as the suspect was apprehended while going out from this building with a Siena vehicle loaded with drugs.”
Speaking further, he said
“So, we are here to tell the world that we have seen him; he has been apprehended now, and the process of taking the samples of those drugs for laboratory evaluation against him will take place.
From there, everything scientific to prove what we saw will be proven in court because we’re a scientific organisation.
Recall that we picked samples of those products, and they were kept safely in our office and now we’re taking those samples, and we’ll give him one sample, send another one to the lab, and then keep one as an exhibit for us in case he wants to contest the laboratory result.
We are a scientific organisation that deals with scientific evaluations. We will sample, and he’ll see his products.”
In an interview, the suspect confirmed that he owns the buildings and uses them as storage for the drugs he trades, insisting they were foreign drugs and not expired, contrary to NAFDAC’s allegations.
Onwukwe also claimed he was unaware that his buildings were sealed after the February 11 raid by NAFDAC, which prompted his wife to rent out the spaces to tenants.
Speaking on why he did not turn himself in to the authorities, Onwukwe said, “I have been sick for over three months now. I have been very sick, but my people have been going to their office.
“My wife and my in-law have been going to the Area Command as well as NAFDAC’s office in Enugu and Asaba. I have been very sick. I just recovered one week ago; I really wanted to go to them, but I was sick.”
He further stated that he was unaware that one of his apprentices, whom he had settled after their training and who continued residing with him before the raid and his subsequent arrest, was using his property to revalidate expired drugs.
The suspect’s wife, Mrs. Nwamaka Chidiebere, confirmed she was present during the joint team’s raid on their residence in February 2025 and denied that the building was sealed.
“I was the one that rented the apartment to the tenants because I have been looking for my husband for some months, and I didn’t see him. So, I had no option other than to rent the vacant spaces out to tenants.”
When questioned about her awareness of fake and expired drugs found in the buildings, she said
“I am aware that the security people came here because I was here, but I am not into the business with him because he said he doesn’t want me in his business. I only know that he deals in foreign drugs, US drugs to be precise.
I am a local government worker, so I don’t know anything about my husband’s business. I wrote a statement on this matter with the police, and I stand by what I wrote.”
One tenant, Engineer Lawrence Nwankwo, stated that he moved into the building in June 2025 and was unaware that it had been sealed and was under NAFDAC’s surveillance.
“I was not aware of anything. I was not residing around this area. I was only looking for a house, and I was told that there’s a vacancy in this place. I made all payments to the landlady of this place.”
Another tenant, Chioma Innocent, also said she was never aware that the building she paid for was under any kind of seal.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli