The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has called for immediate and uncompromising action against the nation’s rampant illegal drug market, labeling those involved as “merchants of death.”

The ACPN also demanded penalties ranging from N20 million to N50 million, and 20 years jail terms for drug counterfeiters. A press statement jointly signed by the National Chairman of the ACPN, Pharm.

Ezeh Ambrose and National Secretary, Pharm. Ashore Omokhafe, stated that more stringent penalties will serve as deterrence to the merchants of death who give Nigerians no respite or breathing space in the circulation of fake drugs and unwholesome foods and drinks. The duo demanded that regulatory agencies and state governments should escalate their efforts to eradicate these dangerous markets.

They stated that the National Assembly should enact significantly harsher penalties for offenders. Commending recent regulatory actions by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), particularly the agreements secured for the establishment of Coordinated Wholesale Centres (CWCs), ACPN said:

“We salute the operators in these three reflected drug markets for committing themselves to the process of relocating from the existing Open Drug Markets to the Coordinated Wholesale Centres as soon as it is ready for operation.

“The synergy demonstrated by all stakeholders and the regulatory agencies in brokering these agreements gives us hope for the normalisation of the drug distribution value chain.” However, they stressed that these efforts are insufficient. “We cannot afford to be complacent,” they declared. “The lives of Nigerians are at stake.

These illegal drug markets are breeding grounds for counterfeit and substandard medications, which are killing our people. We must act now, with absolute resolve.” The association’s statement strongly criticised the current penalties for drugrelated offenses, deeming them woefully inadequate. “A mere N500,000 fine and a five-year jail term are an insult to the victims of these crimes.”

To this end, they stated, “We demand penalties ranging from N20 million to N50 million, and jail terms of at least 20 years, to serve as a real deterrent.”

The ACPN further demanded the PCN and the NAFDAC must intensify their raids and surveillance, targeting not only major drug markets but also the remnants in areas like Mushin, Agege, and Orile in Lagos, and other locations nationwide. They stressed the need for swift activation of CWC directives: “The 2018 directive to relocate drug markets in Ibadan, Enugu, and Maiduguri to CWCs must be enforced without delay.

“Lagos, Anambra, and Abia State Governments must prioritise the swift completion of CWC infrastructure. “The National Assembly must urgently amend the Fake Drug Act to strengthen PCN and NAFDAC collaboration and implement significantly harsher penalties.

“Federal and State Task Forces must be fully equipped with qualified Pharmaceutical and Drug/Food Inspectors. “We are calling for a ‘no retreat, no surrender’ approach”. “The time for halfmeasures is over. We must protect the lives of Nigerians from these ‘merchants of death’.

Similarly, the ACPN called on the PCN and NAFDAC to ensure routine monitoring and control procedures in these drug markets pending their eventual relocation to the CWCs on completion. Specifically, we anticipate that NAFDAC will continue to ensure that drugs and medical equipment put up for sale on these locations conform with quality assurance and control benchmarks.

According to the national chairman and the national secretary of the ACPN, PCN on the other hand must ensure that storage standards and drug layouts are complied with to ensure the drugs on sale do not undergo accelerated degradation due to poor handling