Nigerians’ romance with poisonous cocktails packaged as choice alcoholic beverages
Amarachi Okeh reports on the significant public health threat posed by counterfeit alcoholic drinks infiltrating the Nigerian social scene. Her investigation highlights the severe health risks associated with these fake beverages, the economic toll on legitimate businesses, and the damaging effects on consumer confidence in local markets and nightlife culture
In the midst of the bittersweet atmosphere at a burial ceremony in Oba, Anambra State, the gentle hum of conversations blended with the sound of clinking bottles. Servers moved swiftly, ensuring drinks and plates were filled as guests shared memories and offered condolences. Enyinnaya Erondu and his two friends were among the mourners who joined the bereaved in sombre solidarity.
But beneath the seemingly ordinary ritual of gulping down food and drink lay a hidden danger. Unaware of what they had consumed, the three friends soon faced an ordeal that turned their grief into a two-day struggle to stay alive amid intense suffering.
The health crises they faced, were no doubt a haunting reminder of the dangerous prevalence of fake alcoholic drinks circulating in Nigeria’s social gatherings.
For two days after the burial, Erondu’s body was not the same. He came down with a throbbing headache that refused to go away and sweated profusely the day after the event.
He was constantly thirsty and dehydrated despite guzzling bottles of water continuously.
It all began after he took a sip of what he now suspects was a counterfeit bottle of beer at the burial ceremony. The taste seemed off even from the first sip, raising his suspicion.
It wasn’t just Enyinnaya who felt the effects; two of his friends suffered the same troubling symptoms shortly after.
“When we drank it, we couldn’t help but notice that the taste was more bitter than usual. But we waved it off and kept drinking. I drank two bottles that day,” he recalled.
“It was when I got to my base in Nnewi that evening that all hell was let loose. I started having stomach aches, purging and had one crazy headache that I had never had before. The headache lasted for two whole days.
“I managed to go to work the next day with the headache but I was sweating profusely, so I called my two friends who attended the funeral with me to check if they were okay, and they said they weren’t feeling well either. It was then that it hit me—we all drank fake alcohol. The signs were there while we were drinking it, but we didn’t realise it at the time.”
This experience was a shock for the man who used to boast of his high tolerance for alcoholic drinks and the ability to drink up to six bottles at a go without being intoxicated.
In a good turn, the fateful incident caused him to re-evaluate his lifestyle.
“Since that experience, I have seriously cut down on my alcohol intake just to be safe,” he revealed.
Fake alcoholic drinks unmasked
Fake or counterfeit alcohol refers to alcoholic beverages produced illegally without regulation or oversight, often by unlicensed operators in unsanitary and hazardous conditions. These products are commonly made with cheap substitutes, unsafe additives, and ingredients not fit for human consumption, as explained by public health practitioner Adebayo Adekunle.
Nigeria’s alcoholic beverage industry generates about N2.18tn annually. However, both the soft drink and alcoholic beverage markets are rife with fake products—a persistent challenge that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has been battling for years.
The issue has escalated into a public health emergency due to the severe health risks associated with counterfeit alcoholic drinks, which are often manufactured using toxic chemicals.
Legitimate alcoholic beverages contain ethanol, the only alcohol safe for consumption when used within regulated limits.
However, counterfeiters seeking to reduce production costs frequently replace ethanol with cheaper, often toxic, chemicals, creating a serious health hazard, as noted by Interpol in its assessments of counterfeit alcohol risks.
Alcohol poisoning from counterfeit drinks leads to dangerous symptoms, including confusion, loss of coordination, vomiting, irregular or slow breathing, pale or clammy skin, low body temperature (hypothermia), stupor (where the person is conscious but unresponsive), and unconsciousness (passing out).
These symptoms arise from ingesting toxic substitutes often used in fake alcoholic beverages, such as methanol, which the body processes differently from ethanol and can cause severe health risks.
Risky night outing
An edu-tech expert and nightlife enthusiast, Gabriel Egunjobi, is no stranger to the symptoms of alcohol poisoning. One Friday night years ago, he went to his favourite spot, a trendy nightclub on Victoria Island, Lagos, to enjoy an evening like any other.
His friends splurged on a bottle of a very popular vodka, then priced at a hefty N260,000.
However, as he took his first sip, he noticed an unusual taste but dismissed it given the high cost they had already committed.
The next day, Gabriel woke up with severe symptoms, passing out shortly after, only to wake up in a hospital bed.
Doctors confirmed that he had ingested something toxic. Certain that the drink was to blame—since he hadn’t eaten anything else that night—he posted a critical review on the club’s social media page.
The club’s management responded, apologising and explaining that they too had fallen victim to counterfeit supply.
Since that scare, Gabriel has taken precautions: he sticks to just two brands he trusts and warns against chasing high-demand brands, which he believes attract counterfeiters.
He has since advised, “If you want to stay safe, stick to one or two trusted brands, and watch out for the ones that are overhyped. Demand often drives the fakes.”
Bartenders know better
Across Nigeria, counterfeit alcoholic drinks are always seized, yet new operators quickly emerge.
In response, some bars and clubs, prioritising their reputation and customers’ health, have become increasingly cautious about the drinks they serve.
At a popular hangout in Yaba, Lagos, the shelves in the bar area have been empty for weeks. Bankole, the head bartender, said they now prefer to wait for supplies directly from official distributors rather than risk purchasing from the open market.
“In a market flooded with fakes, serving just one counterfeit drink could damage the reputation we’ve built,” he explained.
Bankole, who has been bartending for 16 years, recalled similar challenges at his previous job at Elegushi Beach, where fake drinks were a constant issue—often with up to seven out of twelve bottles in a carton being counterfeits.
“It was mainly because they didn’t buy directly from the manufacturers or certified dealers,” he quipped.
Popular brands of Vodka are frequent targets for counterfeiters, as their fakes are easier to produce using local gin and other flavours.
Another bartender with a different club, Obinna, advised against purchasing alcohol from roadside vendors due to the high likelihood of counterfeits. “We buy directly from the company. Only those very familiar with these drinks can distinguish between real and fake,” he added.
The problem also is made worse as sometimes the fake drinks are packaged in original bottles.
“Some people use original bottles to package fake drinks. If you scan the bottle itself, it will give you the correct details because the bottle is original but the content is fake. So it is better to break such bottles after use so that they cannot be used to package fake drinks.
“The things that will differentiate an original from a fake drink is not the bottle but the colour of the drink, the seal and the taste,” Bankole revealed.
Obinna added that fake alcoholic drinks should easily be noticed by their taste but many are not able to do so because they don’t even know what the original tastes like.
What fake alcoholic drinks contain
A professor of Microbiology at Covenant University, Obinna Nwinyi, said herbal alcoholic drinks are also vulnerable to adulteration due to harmful additives, much like other alcohol products.
“Some people, in their pursuit of profit, add methanol to increase the alcohol content, which is dangerous,” he said. “Particularly with these herbal drinks, methanol is added alongside alcohol and ethanol. Methanol is known to damage the eyes.”
Methanol, an industrial solvent used in producing inks, resins, adhesives, and dyes, is extremely harmful to humans.
Nwinyi, a member of the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria and the Nigeria Institute of Food Science and Technology, further noted that drinks produced outside hygienic environments often contain chemical and environmental contaminants.
He pointed out that, given Nigeria’s large population and the high consumption of such unregulated products, public health safety is a significant concern.
“The more people consume improperly prepared alcohol with ungraded alcohol percentages, the more severe the consequences,” the professor warned.
An opinion article published in the Tribune Newspaper titled – The effects of fake alcohol consumption, highlighted how methanol, a highly toxic form of alcohol used in industrial applications, is often substituted for ethanol in making fake alcoholic drinks.
In other cases, hazardous substances like isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), antifreeze, or dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde are also used in concocting the drinks, he revealed.
In addition to this, Interpol, which lists unsafe alcohol as a crime, added that some producers also use nail polish remover and even paint stripper.
It was noted that in some cases, hazardous substances like isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), antifreeze, and even dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde are used in concocting fake alcoholic drinks, he revealed.
Additionally, Interpol, which categorises unsafe alcohol as a criminal offence, reported that some producers also use nail polish remover and paint stripper in their mixtures.
How fake alcoholic drinks harm the body
Methanol, a substance commonly used in the production of counterfeit vodka, poses serious health risks, including permanent blindness and organ failure, which can ultimately lead to death, NAFDAC warns.
Additionally, consuming adulterated alcohol significantly increases the risk of cancer.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has found that one in every 10 cancer cases in Nigeria can be traced to alcohol consumption, with 4.7 per cent of all cancer cases in Nigeria in 2019 attributed to the intake of adulterated alcohol, according to NAFDAC.
Fake alcoholic drinks also have detrimental effects on the lungs, potentially causing liver and kidney damage, as noted by public health expert Adekunle.
“These two organs are responsible for detoxifying the body, so consuming substandard alcoholic drinks containing harmful substances puts immense strain on them. Over time, this can lead to liver diseases like cirrhosis or kidney failure, both of which are life-threatening conditions. Furthermore, fake alcoholic beverages can cause respiratory distress, lung inflammation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other cardiovascular problems,” he cautioned.
The public health impact of fake drinks is widespread, as highlighted by the World Health Organisation in its 2018 Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health.
WHO further revealed that in 2016 alone, over 3 million deaths were attributed to the harmful use of alcohol, with a higher percentage of such deaths occurring among men than women.
How to spot fake alcoholic drinks
NAFDAC recommends that buyers pay attention to the four Ps when purchasing alcoholic drinks: place, price, packaging, and product.
The agency cautioned, “If it smells like paint stripper or nail polish remover, then it probably is!”
An online alcoholic beverage site, naijaliquor.com, advises buyers to closely examine labels and packaging.
It noted that important indicators include the batch number and expiry date, suggesting to check the taste and smell, being cautious of large discounts and unusually low prices, and assessing the texture and colour of the drink.
Buyers should also avoid brands that attempt to closely mimic the original brands, as these are often counterfeit.
“Counterfeit wine and spirit brands are a common problem in Nigeria, and they frequently imitate the packaging and labelling of legitimate brands. Always verify that the brand name and logo match the genuine product,” the site cautioned.
NAFDAC’s ongoing war against fake alcoholic drinks
In December 2023, NAFDAC reported the arrest of a gang of criminals specialising in producing fake alcoholic drinks at the Cemetery Market in Aba, Abia State. This gang was known for adulterating popular brands such as Seaman Schnapps, Hennessy, Four Cousins, and Carlo Rossi, among others.
The street value of the confiscated and destroyed counterfeit products was estimated at N750m, and 10 individuals were apprehended at the scene.
In May this year, NAFDAC arrested one Chinedu Okafor for illegally manufacturing alcohol in a factory located in the Badagry area of Lagos State, with the value of the seized goods exceeding N50m.
In April, a couple, Mr and Mrs Austin Idemudia, were arrested by the Zone 2 Police Force for producing and distributing various fake alcoholic drinks from their base in Ogun State. Additionally, in July, NAFDAC shut down 100 shops in the Ogbete Main Market, Enugu State, for selling counterfeit alcoholic beverages, resulting in the arrest of four individuals.
For an extended period, NAFDAC has struggled to curtail the persistent growth of counterfeit alcohol manufacturers.
Despite the agency’s efforts to sanitise the industry, some unscrupulous business owners continue to find selling fake alcoholic drinks to be a lucrative venture, disregarding the significant health implications involved.
