The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has called for stiffer punishment for drug traffickers and importers of illegal drugs into the country.
The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who made the call at a news conference in Abuja on Monday, lamented light sentences handed peddlers of Tramadol and counterfeit drugs.
She said the penalties for such offences should be reviewed.
“It breaks my heart that a sentence of five years imprisonment or N250,000 fine is given to someone that is trafficking Tramadol that is killing our youths, destroying homes and casting shadows on the future of Nigeria.
“I am pleading with the judiciary to look at the consequences of narcotic on our homes and review the sentences,” Adeyeye said.
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She commended the Federal Government for supporting the agency in terms of equipment.
The NAFDAC boss disclosed that 12 persons were caught with large amount of substandard and falsified medicine, some of which had been destroyed.
She said that some of the suspects were being investigated or prosecuted, while some had been sentenced.
According to her, the agency destroyed substandard and falsified medical products worth over N3 billion between November 2017 and November 2018.
She said that a total of 24 containers of seized substandard and falsified medical products especially Tramadol have been destroyed in conjunction with the Nigeria Customs Service.
