Nigerian agency seeks death penalty for selling counterfeit medicine

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By Ben Ezeamalu

LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s drug enforcement agency called on Wednesday for life jail terms and the death penalty for those caught trading counterfeit medicines and illegal pharmaceutical drugs as it carries out its biggest nationwide blitz on fake medications.

Nigeria has struggled for years with counterfeit drugs, especially anti-malaria and pain pills and antibiotics, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says.

Mojisola Adeyeye, the NAFDAC head, said the latest operation, which was supported by security agencies, seized large quantities of counterfeit and improperly stored vaccines, prescription medicines, USAID-donated anti-retroviral drugs and expired condoms.

Tafrodol, an opioid banned in Nigeria, and oxytocin injections used during labour were also seized, she said.

“These products were discovered stacked in toilets, under staircase and rooftop at very high temperatures, without consideration for cold chain storage requirement,” Adeyeye said in a statement.

Adeyeye urged lawmakers to fast track an amendment of laws on drugs and health “to include life sentence (and) death penalties for crimes committed under these Acts.”

Other offences that are punishable by death in Nigeria include armed robbery, murder, treason and terrorism, but since 2016, most sentences have often been commuted to life in prison.

The drug enforcement agency has previously carried out raids on markets but the latest operation, which started on February 9, is its biggest yet, targeting the commercial capital Lagos and as well as the southwestern states of Anambra and Abia.

In Nigeria, a country of more than 200 million people, many counterfeit drugs are sold in informal markets without a prescription.

(Reporting by Ben Ezeamalu, Editing by William Maclean)