National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) recently secured the conviction of Mr. Sunday Okeke who was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for his role in making available counterfeit drugs and wholesome processed food.
In reaction to the development, the general public continues to express dissatisfaction over the issue and to ask what actually is hindering the agency from taking the issues of convicting fake drug offenders seriously considering the severe negative impact of fake food and drug on the health of consumers.
However, highlighting some of the agency’s challenges to convict offenders at the annual workshop organised by the National Association of Judicial Correspondents (NAJUC) in Lagos recently, NAFDAC’s director general, Dr. Paul Orhii said part of the key constraints are outdated laws, judicial/ prosecution bottlenecks and the absence of control over police officers attached to the Agency.
According to Orhii, the Agency has secured more than nine convictions from 2009 till date and maintained that the number of convictions was a far cry from the arrests the agency made within the period. He however affirmed that the recent judgment is a further testimony of the resolve of leadership of the agency to rid Nigeria of criminals perpetuating fake, substandard, and unregistered NAFDAC regulated products in the system.
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