The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has advocated death penalty for people convicted of trafficking in counterfeit and illicit drugs.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the suggestion on Friday when she appeared on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief”, monitored by Persecondnews.
She said: “Only stiff penalties will deter peddlers especially when it leads to the death of children. Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall.
“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty. Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine.”
The DG called for the cooperation of the judiciary and National Assembly to enact a law to make the proposal a reality.
She said: “You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrence, there is going to be a problem.
“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000 fine. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000?
“That is part of our problem. There are no strict measures to deter people from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we are going to have a problem.
“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff. But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die.”
Prof. Adeyeye lamented the agency’s severe manpower shortage, citing that NAFDAC has only about 2,000 staff members nationwide, which hampers its ability to carry out its activities effectively.
“So, when it comes to staffing, you are right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better.”
Persecondnews recalls that Nigeria has been grappling with the scourge of counterfeit drugs and products.
NAFDAC launched significant crackdowns, destroying counterfeit products valued at N120 billion across Nigeria from July to December 2024.
This effort included the destruction of unregistered drugs worth N11 billion on December 11, 2024, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
In November 2024, NAFDAC seized N300 million worth of fake medicines during a raid on Tyre Village, Trade Fair Complex, Lagos State.
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