Counterfeit Products: Presidential Aide Calls for Enforcement of Death Penalty

By Bayo Onanuga

Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga has called for death penalty for counterfeiters of food, drugs and other products in Nigeria.

Onanuga made the call on Wednesday, in response to a report by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) about the discovery of a suspected counterfeit alcohol production facility in Aba, Abia State.

He argued that offenders will continue to threaten public safety unless they are subjected to the harshest punishment.

“These counterfeiters certainly have no conscience. Until we start imposing a death penalty on them, they will never stop their nefarious activities,” he wrote on X(formerly Twitter).

NAFDAC on Monday said its operatives raided the suspected factory at No. 25 Omenazu Street, Aba, following credible intelligence. The suspected operator reportedly fled before the officials arrived, as a result, officials recovered materials believed to have been used to produce and package counterfeit alcoholic drinks.

According to the agency, among items recovered were empty bottles, counterfeit packaging with the names of Sir Edwards Scotch Whisky and Scottish Hills Whisky, bottle caps, sealing machines and containers of liquid substances suspected to be ingredients for production.

The agency also discovered ethanol stored in plastic buckets and 200-litre drums, together with tree bark soaked in the ethanol and dirty sieves. NAFDAC valued the recovered equipment, materials and facility components at more than N500m.

The discovery has raised concerns about the health risks posed by counterfeit alcoholic beverages, as products manufactured in unhygienic conditions and distributed without proper quality controls are often harmful to consumers.

NAFDAC has increased enforcement measures against production and distribution of fake and substandard products. Recently, the agency reported the seizure and destruction of counterfeit and unwholesome goods worth more than N5.3billion within one week, as products valued at over N2billion were recovered during a raid at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex.

Despite Onanuga’s call for capital punishment, Nigeria’s law on counterfeit drugs and unwholesome processed foods prescribe fines of up to N500,000, imprisonment for five to 15 years or both for offenders. It does not prescribe the death penalty for offences covered by the law.