The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called on the National Assembly to enact legislation prescribing the death penalty or life imprisonment for individuals involved in the sale of counterfeit and substandard drugs in Nigeria.
NAFDAC Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, made the appeal while addressing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stressing that stronger punitive measures are essential to curb the rising menace of fake pharmaceuticals.
She revealed that recent nationwide enforcement operations, including a major raid at the Onitsha Head Bridge drug market, have led to the seizure of counterfeit medical products worth over N1 trillion. The confiscated items—comprising banned, expired, unregistered, and falsified drugs—will be publicly destroyed in the locations where they were seized.
Adeyeye urged lawmakers to expedite amendments to the NAFDAC Act LFN and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods C34 Act, incorporating harsher penalties, including life imprisonment and capital punishment, for offenders.
“With the signing of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), any assets recovered from convicted suspects will be forfeited as proceeds of crime,” she added.
Describing the enforcement drive as a critical effort to protect public health, Adeyeye lamented the devastating impact of fake drugs, stating, “People are dying, and many lives have been lost due to these criminal activities.”
She also identified manpower shortages and corruption within the drug supply chain as major obstacles to NAFDAC’s efforts, noting that the agency has only about 2,000 staff nationwide, which she described as insufficient to tackle the widespread counterfeit drug trade.
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