By Miracle Ogunde
The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) has proposed death penalty for drug peddlers, insisting that only stiffer measures will deter people from carrying out the illicit act.
The Director-General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
According to her only stiff penalties will deter peddlers especially when it leads to the death of children.
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
Adeyeye decried the shortage of manpower in the agency in stemming drug peddling.
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.
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