— Insists anyone that kills a child through falsified medicine should die.
By Biola Lawal
Flowerbudnews: The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye has advocated death penalty for anyone convicted of peddling fake drugs.
Prof. Adeyeye described drug peddlers as merchants of death who prioritized making huge illicit money at the expense of lives of their fellow human beings.
Reiterating her call for the stiffer penalty for the ”merchants of death”, Prof Adeyeye insisted; ”anyone that kills a child through falsified medicine should die’:
The NAFDAC Boss called for the introduction of the death penalty for drug peddlers, particularly, those whose actions result in the death of children.
Speaking at a programme on Friday, Prof. Adeyeye emphasized that only severe penalties would effectively deter drug peddlers, especially those selling harmful substandard medications, a statement by Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC Resident Media Consultant disclosed.
She cited the case of a person importing a highly dangerous dose of Tramadol, which could cause severe harm or death, yet only receiving a minimal sentence of five years in prison or a fine of N250,000.
“Who wouldn’t pay a fine of N250,000 and go on to commit the same offense? That’s part of our issue—there are no stringent measures in place to prevent repeat offenses,” Adeyeye added.
She noted however, that the lawmakers had promised to partner with NAFDAC to make penalties for drug peddling far more severe, while NAFDAC works tirelessly to address these issues.
Adeyeye also highlighted the agency’s struggle with limited staffing and resources, stressing that with just around 2,000 employees nationwide (equivalent to one NAFDAC staff serving 119,000 citizens, based on 238 million population), the agency faced significant challenges in carrying out its enforcement duties.
“We are understaffed, and our funding is limited. I hope things will improve so we can strengthen our efforts,” she said. (Flowerbudnews)
