*Agency renews call for stiffer penalty for counterfeiters including death penalty
*Recommends life imprisonment as minimum punishment for those counterfeiting regulated products
*That penalties should be incorporated into NAFDAC’s Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act
*Says such sanctions would strengthen fight against counterfeit, substandard, falsification of products
By Blessing Bature
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called for tougher punishment, including life imprisonment or the death penalty, for individuals convicted of counterfeiting regulated products in Nigeria.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, made the call on Monday at a news conference in Lagos, saying the proposed sanctions should be incorporated into the NAFDAC Act and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act.
Adeyeye said stiffer penalties were necessary to strengthen the country’s fight against counterfeit, substandard, falsified and unwholesome regulated products, which she described as a major threat to public health.
“We need stricter penalties, including the death penalty or life imprisonment, for counterfeiters,” she said.
According to her, NAFDAC secured 64 convictions for counterfeiting-related offences across the country between June 2025 and June 2026. The offenders received prison sentences ranging from one to seven years without the option of a fine.
She disclosed that one of the convictions involved the counterfeiting of Global Fund Artemether, an antimalarial drug, which attracted a five-year prison sentence. Another offender received a five-year term for producing fake cough and cold syrup containing codeine.
Adeyeye said other convictions involving counterfeit ointments and condoms resulted in 12-month prison sentences, while seven-year terms were secured in cases involving counterfeit antibiotics and a woman involved in pharmaceutical counterfeiting.
The NAFDAC chief described counterfeiters as “merchants of death” and reaffirmed the agency’s zero-tolerance policy towards the production, distribution and sale of fake and harmful regulated products.
She said the agency would continue to intensify enforcement nationwide, noting that its records since 2023 showed the seizure of billions of naira worth of illicit products, alongside hundreds of arrests, dozens of convictions and the destruction of confiscated goods.
Adeyeye said the enforcement campaign remained necessary despite what she described as the “brazenness” of those engaged in the illicit trade, stressing that counterfeit products endangered lives and also undermined legitimate manufacturers operating in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector.
On the ban on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and small plastic bottles, Adeyeye said manufacturers had continued to comply with NAFDAC’s enforcement measures.
“Manufacturers are already dismantling their production lines or reconfiguring them for other non-alcoholic products,” she said.
She attributed the development to NAFDAC’s ban and intensified enforcement against manufacturers of the affected alcoholic beverages.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that NAFDAC announced a nationwide ban on alcoholic drinks in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml in January.
The agency has since intensified enforcement of the prohibition, targeting the production, distribution and sale of the banned alcoholic products.
