Mojisola Adeyeye NAFDAC Boss Calls for Death Penalty for Fake Drug Peddlers Amid Rising Cases of Substandard Medicine
In an effort to combat the growing menace of substandard and falsified medicines in Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Boss Mojisola Adeyeye has proposed the death penalty for individuals involved in the sale of fake drugs.
NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made this call during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday. She emphasized that only severe penalties would serve as an effective deterrent against drug peddlers whose actions result in avoidable deaths, particularly among children.
Disturbing Findings: Fake Medicine with No Active Ingredients-Mojisola Adeyeye
Citing a recent case, Adeyeye revealed a shocking discovery involving children’s medicine sold at drastically different prices within the same shopping mall.
“Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000, while another vendor in the same mall was selling the same product for N3,000. That raised an alarm. When we tested the cheaper version in our Kaduna lab, guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine—no active ingredients at all,” she disclosed.
She passionately argued that distributing fake medicine is just as lethal as direct violence.
“You don’t need to put a gun to a child’s head to kill them. Just give that child bad medicine,” she asserted.
Need for Stronger Legal Action and Judiciary Support
Adeyeye stressed that tackling substandard and falsified medicine requires a collaborative approach, particularly involving the judiciary and the National Assembly. She criticized the current penalties for drug-related offenses as being too lenient to deter offenders.
“You cannot fight substandard and falsified medicine in isolation. NAFDAC can do its best, but if there’s no real deterrent, we will continue to have this problem,” she said.
Mojisola Adeyeye cited a case where a trafficker was caught with 225mg of Tramadol, a dose potent enough to cause severe harm, yet was sentenced to only five years in prison or given the option to pay a N250,000 fine.
“Who doesn’t know that such a person can just walk to an ATM and withdraw N250,000? That is part of our problem,” she lamented.
Adeyeye called for a stronger judicial system and urged lawmakers to impose stiffer penalties.
“We are working with the National Assembly to strengthen our laws. If you kill a child with bad medicine, you deserve to die,” she said firmly.
Challenges Facing NAFDAC
Despite its efforts, NAFDAC is severely constrained by inadequate funding and a shortage of personnel. According to Adeyeye, the agency has only about 2,000 staff members nationwide, limiting its capacity to enforce drug regulations effectively.
As the agency pushes for harsher penalties, Adeyeye reiterated NAFDAC’s commitment to ensuring safe and effective medicines for all Nigerians, urging stronger institutional support to combat the distribution of fake drugs.
