NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, advocates for life imprisonment and the death penalty for drug crimes, citing public health risks. She highlights a major crackdown on counterfeit medicines in Aba, Onitsha, and Lagos, leading to arrests and market closures. Seized drugs will be destroyed, and new regulations enforced.
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has urged the National Assembly to impose life imprisonment and the death penalty for drug-related crimes. Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, Adeyeye stressed that harsh penalties were necessary to curb the circulation of counterfeit medicines, which have led to numerous deaths across Nigeria.
She highlighted the agency’s ongoing crackdown on substandard and falsified drugs, targeting major open drug markets in Lagos, Aba, and Onitsha. According to her, unregulated medicine sales in these locations endanger public health due to poor storage conditions and unauthorized distribution.
As part of the enforcement effort, NAFDAC has seized 87 truckloads of expired, unregistered, and fake medical products from these markets. Over 40 arrests have been made, and the confiscated drugs will be publicly destroyed. The agency has also compiled a database of offenders to facilitate further prosecution.
Adeyeye announced plans to relocate affected drug markets to designated Coordinated Wholesale Centres (CWCs) within a year. These regulated centers, to be established in each geopolitical zone, will ensure compliance with safety standards for drug storage and distribution.
She reaffirmed NAFDAC’s commitment to strengthening drug regulation and protecting consumers from unsafe medical products. The agency's actions align with its National Action Plan (NAP 2.0) for 2023–2027, which aims to eliminate counterfeit medicines and restore public confidence in pharmaceuticals.
