THE National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has proposed the death penalty for drug peddlers.
According to the Director-General of the agency Mojisola Adeyeye, only stiff penalties will deter peddlers especially when it leads to the death of children.
“Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall,” the NAFDAC chief said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty.
“Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine,” Adeyeye said.
The NAFDAC DG is also seeking the cooperation of the judiciary and the National Assembly to make such a move a reality. According to her, the agency is open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter.
“You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem,” she said.
“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000?
“That is part of our problem. There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.
“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff. But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die,” she said.
While NAFDAC has a lot on its plate in stemming drug peddling, Adeyeye decried the shortage of manpower in the agency.
She believes with about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities.
“So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better,” the NAFDAC DG said.
