The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called for the death penalty for individuals involved in the sale and distribution of fake drugs in Nigeria.
Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, made this demand while speaking on The Morning Brief, a programme on Channels Television. She argued that weak legal penalties have allowed drug peddlers to operate with impunity, endangering lives, especially those of children.
“You don’t need to put a gun to a child’s head before you kill them. Just give them bad medicine,” she declared, emphasizing the deadly impact of counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
Fake Drugs, Real Deaths
Adeyeye cited a recent incident in which a children’s medicine was being sold at an unusually low price in a shopping mall.
“Somebody bought the original medicine for N13,000, but another person was selling it for N3,000 in the same mall. That raised an alarm. Guess what? When we tested the medicine in our Kaduna lab, there was nothing inside it,” she revealed.
She stressed that such cases illustrate how counterfeit drugs directly lead to loss of lives, making it necessary for Nigeria to enforce stricter laws.
NAFDAC vs. Weak Penalties
The NAFDAC boss lamented the leniency of the current legal system, stating that some offenders are sentenced to as little as five years in prison or fined N250,000 after being caught with highly dangerous substances like Tramadol.
“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol – a dose that can fry the brain and kill anyone – and the court gave a judgment of five years or a fine of N250,000. Who doesn’t know that the person will just go to an ATM and withdraw N250,000?” she asked in frustration.
She argued that such soft punishments encourage repeat offenses.
“If our judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem,” she warned, calling for more stringent penalties, including capital punishment, to serve as a deterrent.
Short-Staffed, Underfunded, Yet Fighting On
Despite its efforts to clamp down on fake drug manufacturers and sellers, NAFDAC faces significant challenges, including limited manpower and resources.
“We are short-staffed, and I am hoping things will get better,” Adeyeye admitted. The agency, which oversees drug regulation across the country, has only about 2,000 staff members nationwide, making enforcement difficult.
Legislative and Judicial Support Needed
NAFDAC is now seeking cooperation from the National Assembly and the judiciary to enact stricter laws.
“We are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff. If you kill a child with bad medicine, you deserve to die,” Adeyeye declared.
Her call for the death penalty has sparked intense debate among Nigerians. While some support her stance, arguing that only extreme punishment will deter criminals, others question whether capital punishment is the best approach.