Nigeria’s drug enforcement agency has launched its largest crackdown on counterfeit medicine, calling for life sentences and the death penalty for offenders.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said the illegal trade of fake pharmaceuticals has plagued Nigeria for years, particularly affecting anti-malaria drugs, antibiotics, and painkillers.
Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC’s director, announced that the latest operation, backed by security forces, led to the seizure of large quantities of counterfeit and improperly stored medicines.
Among the confiscated items were USAID-donated anti-retroviral drugs, expired condoms, Tafrodol—an opioid banned in Nigeria—and oxytocin injections, commonly used to induce labor.
“These products were discovered stacked in toilets, under staircases, and on rooftops at dangerously high temperatures, without proper storage,” Adeyeye said in a statement.
She urged lawmakers to amend drug-related laws to impose life imprisonment and capital punishment for those involved in the production and distribution of counterfeit medicine.
Nigeria already enforces the death penalty for crimes like armed robbery, treason, and terrorism, though many sentences have been reduced to life imprisonment since 2016.
While previous raids targeted illicit drug markets, this latest operation, which began on February 9, extends across Lagos and the southwestern states of Anambra and Abia.
In a nation of over 200 million people, many counterfeit drugs are sold openly in informal markets without prescriptions, posing severe risks to public health.
