Nigeria Police Arrest Two Over Production Of Fake Drinks, Uncover ‘Multi-room Factory’ In Lagos

The police in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, have arrested two persons in possession of fake drinks.

Although the details of the arrest are still sketchy, the Command’s spokesperson SP Benjamin Hundeyin who disclosed the arrest in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, gave the names of the suspects as Imo Lawrence ‘m’ aged 35 and Magnus Nwonka ‘m’ aged 42.

Hundeyin said that the suspects were arrested by officers of the Ojo Division of the command on Wednesday.

The police spokesperson said in the course of the investigation, the suspects led detectives to their “inconspicuous, multi-room ‘factory’, adding that “investigation is ongoing.”

SaharaReporters reported on Monday, December 18, that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) uncovered a large haul of fake wine and soft drinks in Abia State.

— Sahara Reporters

The agency which disclosed this in a statement said it discovered major brands cloned by the arrested syndicate in an operation that involved over 240 shops-turned-factories.

SaharaReporters on Tuesday reported that a filmmaker, Editi Effiong, had blamed the attitude of Nigerians for the proliferation of fake consumer goods in markets and stores across the country.

Effiong who said this via his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle claimed that poor regulation by the Nigerian government and its agencies was not the sole cause of the proliferation of fake products in the Nigerian market lately.

He said, “Fake products find a market in Nigeria not only because of poor regulations – yes, regulation needs to be better – but because Nigerians love managing it like that.

“If we can’t find the good one, we manage the substandard substitutes – food, drugs, leaders, content.”

Apart from the film producer, other X users shared pictures of fake popular wine brands, non-alcoholic drinks, chocolates, toothpaste, soap, milk, and other household goods already dominating the country’s marketplace.

Hence, they demanded an immediate government intervention in the matter which poses a threat to the well-being of the people.

An X user identified as Salawu wrote: “Your negligence to illegal factories led to the proliferation and porosity of fake product consumption in Nigeria.

“The cancerous fake products are ubiquitous and have cost many innocent lives to untimely death, thinking it’s village people. We are pleading and appealing to you, please, take decisive measures to curb the illegal products menace in Nigeria.

“Visit Supermarkets, stores, shops, etc. Reminisce your staffs of the modus operandi of your agencies and prosecute anyone who goes against the rules.”

“Jokes and memes aside, this fake products thing is VERY scary and evil. Especially regarding the consumable things. People just sit down in one corner, mix rubbish, get their rubbish to be a perfect clone of the original, sell the rubbish and fill their greedy pockets. It’s sick,” another user, @tosyn_ said.

“Aside from drinks, ingredients used in cooking can kill us. @NafdacAgency please and please do the needful, AMOY is AMOY no s, c or i. It’s not only drinks you go after, please go after these brands AMOY is AMOY help the food industry. @capanigeria,” @Aimalohi6 also wrote.