Chief Olisa Metuh has called for tougher punishment for those who produce and distribute fake drugs and adulterated consumer products, describing the current penalty of five years’ imprisonment or a N5 million fine as grossly inadequate.
Metuh, Director of Mobilisation and Organisation of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA), said the government must stop treating the menace with kid gloves.
He spoke after the Federal High Court in Abia State on Wednesday convicted a businessman, Innocent Okoye, for producing and distributing fake Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Okoye was sentenced to five years in prison, with an option of a N5 million fine.
Calling the sentence a “mere slap on the wrist,” Metuh warned that such light punishment could turn counterfeiting and product adulteration into a manageable business expense for unscrupulous manufacturers and distributors.
According to him, adulterated medicines, food, beverages, cosmetics and household products can cause serious illness, organ damage and avoidable deaths. He noted that ordinary Nigerians often suffer the consequences, as a single offence can affect hundreds or thousands of people before it is detected.
“The law must respond with consequences that fit the crime,” he said, adding that the absence of direct physical confrontation between offenders and victims does not make counterfeiting any less dangerous than violent crime.
The lawyer urged the National Assembly to urgently review existing laws on drug counterfeiting, pharmaceutical adulteration and falsification of consumer products, so that penalties reflect the harm caused, the offender’s intent, financial gain and degree of recklessness.
He called for significantly longer prison terms, comparable to those for grave violent crimes where an offence leads to death or serious injury, along with fines proportionate to illicit profits and the damage done.
Metuh also advocated asset forfeiture, closure of offending facilities, compensation for victims, withdrawal of dangerous products from the market, and prosecution of corporate executives, manufacturers, importers and distributors who knowingly facilitate such crimes. He stressed, however, that tougher laws must be backed by swift prosecution and consistent enforcement.
“A five-year jail term or N5 million fine amounts to a mere slap on the wrist,” he said, insisting that such punishment must never become the price of doing business with human lives.
The Senate in July 2026 passed for second reading the Counterfeit Medical Products, Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Prohibition and Control) Bill, 2026. The proposed law prescribes a 15-year jail term upon conviction, asset forfeiture, compensation for victims and stronger enforcement powers for the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
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