The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, has proposed the death penalty for drug dealers, particularly those who peddle counterfeit medicines.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Adeyeye argued that stringent penalties are needed to deter the perpetrators, especially when their actions lead to the deaths of children. She shared a troubling example where counterfeit children’s medicine was being sold for N3,000 instead of N13,000, and upon testing, it was found to be empty.
She emphasized the severity of the issue, saying, “You don’t need to put a gun to a child’s head to kill them; just give them bad medicine.” Adeyeye called for the collaboration of the judiciary and the National Assembly to make such a proposal a reality.
She also highlighted the inadequate punishment for drug-related crimes, citing the example of the 225mg of Tramadol, which can be deadly, yet the punishment for such offenses is merely five years in prison or a N250,000 fine—amounts that offenders can easily bypass.
The NAFDAC boss stressed the need for stronger legal measures to prevent repeat offenders and urged the National Assembly to help strengthen the laws, asserting, “If you kill a child with bad medicine, you deserve to die.”
