The National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called for death penalties for counterfeit and illicit drugs peddlers in Nigeria.
Mojisola Adeyeye, FAS Director General, while speaking on the recent nationwide operations with a joint task force at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, valued discovered illicit and fake drugs at about
₦1 trillion.
The agency stated that the seized consignments of banned, expired, unregistered, substandard, and falsified medical products will be publicly destroyed simultaneously at each location where they were seized, after the exercise.
Adeyeye called for the acceleration of work by the National Assembly to expedite the amendment of the NAFDAC Act NI LFN and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods C34 Act, to include life sentences and the death penalty as penalties for crimes committed under these Acts.
“With the signing into law, the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) for forfeiture of assets, the assets recovered from suspects will be treated as proceeds of crime after their conviction by the courts.
“We use this opportunity to call on the National Assembly to expedite the amendment of NAFDAC ACT NI LFN and Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods C34 ACT to include LIFE SENTENCE & DEATH PENALTY in the penalties for crimes committed under these ACTS.
Adeyeye described the exercise as “purely an enforcement operation to protect public health and rid our country of Falsified and Substandard Medical Products. Many people are dying, many have died, as a result of the activities of the fake drugs peddlers.”
(BusinessDay)
