Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, has called for the death penalty for those dealing in the sale and distribution of fake drugs.
Speaking on The Morning Brief, a Channels Television programme, Adeyeye emphasized the urgent need for stricter penalties to deter offenders, particularly when their actions lead to fatalities, including the deaths of children.
“Somebody bought children’s medicine for about N13, 000, while another person was selling it for around N3, 000 in the same mall. That raised an alarm. Guess what? When we tested the medicine in our Kaduna laboratory, there was nothing inside. So, I want the death penalty,” she stated.
Adeyeye argued that the current legal framework is insufficient to combat the menace of counterfeit drugs, citing the case of a person caught with 225mg of tramadol—an amount that can be lethal—who was only fined N250, 000 or sentenced to five years in prison.
“Who doesn’t know that a person can simply withdraw N250, 000 from an ATM? That is part of our problem—there are no strict measures to stop offenders from repeating the same crime,” she added.
Read also: NAFDAC seals market in Aba, confiscates fake beverages worth N5bn
The NAFDAC boss urged the judiciary and the National Assembly to support stronger penalties, stressing that the agency alone cannot effectively tackle the crisis without adequate legal backing.
“You cannot fight sub-standard and falsified medicines in isolation. The agency can only do so much, but if there is no deterrent, there will be a problem,” she said.
Adeyeye affirmed that NAFDAC is working with lawmakers and other stakeholders to push for tougher laws. “If you kill a child with bad medicine, you deserve to die,” she concluded.
NAFDAC has been actively cracking down on fake drug manufacturers and sellers, recently sealing 250 factories in Abia State producing counterfeit products, including Hennessy and Coca-Cola.
The agency has also intensified efforts to regulate traditional and herbal medicines to ensure public safety.
