NAFDAC Boss Advocates Death Penalty For Drug PeddlersThe Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, has called for the death penalty for drug peddlers involved in the distribution of counterfeit medicines, especially those that result in the deaths of children.

Speaking on The Morning Brief on Channels Television on Friday, Adeyeye stressed the need for stricter penalties to deter offenders. She cited a recent case where a children’s medicine was found to contain no active ingredients after laboratory testing in Kaduna.

“Somebody bought children’s medicine for about N13,000, while another was selling it for around N3,000 in the same mall. That raised an alarm. When we tested the medicine, there was nothing inside. So, I want the death penalty,” she declared.

Adeyeye argued that selling fake medicines is equivalent to taking a life. “You don’t need to put a gun to a child’s head to kill them. Just give them bad medicine,” she said.

The NAFDAC boss also called on the judiciary and the National Assembly to enact stricter laws, emphasizing that weak penalties currently allow offenders to continue their crimes.

“Someone brought in 225mg of Tramadol, which can kill a person or fry their brain, and the punishment is just five years in prison or a fine of N250,000. Who doesn’t know that a person can simply withdraw N250,000 from an ATM? That is part of our problem—there are no strict measures to stop offenders from repeating the same crime,” she stated.

She urged lawmakers to support NAFDAC’s push for tougher regulations. “If you kill a child with bad medicine, you deserve to die,” she concluded.