NAFDAC seeks death penalties for counterfeit drug

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called for the death penalty for counterfeit drug peddlers in the country.

NAFDAC’s Director General, Mojisola Adeyeye, made the appeal on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, following a large-scale enforcement operation that resulted in the seizure of illicit drugs worth an estimated ₦1 trillion.

NAFDAC’s recent operation targeted three major open drug markets in Onitsha, Aba, and Lagos, described as the biggest crackdown in the agency’s history.

The operation, which began on February 9, 2025, involved 1,100 security operatives, including the military, police, and the Department of State Services (DSS).

In one of these operations, Adeyeye disclosed that banned and expired drugs were hidden in the plumbing and wood plank sections of Onitsha’s Bridge Head Market, far from the authorities’ usual focus, while unregistered and falsified products were found in over 7,000 shops screened during the operation.

Adeyeye described the exercise as “purely an enforcement operation to protect public health and rid our country of falsified and substandard medical products.”

She also noted that “many people are dying, and many have died as a result of the activities of fake drug peddlers.”

Adeyeye then urged the National Assembly to speed up the amendment of the NAFDAC Act NI LFN and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods C34 Act to include life imprisonment and the death penalty for offenders under these Acts.

She claimed that “with the signing into law of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) for the 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 the NAFDAC Act NI LFN and the 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 added.