Claim: Fake drinks and fake drugs makers and dealers have killed more Nigerians than Boko Haram.
Verdict: No available data on the number of deaths caused by the activities of the producers of fake food and drug.
Full Text:
The crackdown on fake products in some major markets across Nigerian states have triggered mixed reactions on social media.
One of such reactions is a claim made by an X user on 23 February that producers and sellers of fake drugs and drinks have killed more Nigerians than the act of terrorism by Boko Haram group.
Recall that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had intensified efforts to tackle the distribution and sales of counterfeit products.
NAFDAC is a government agency established to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, Medical Devices, Packaged Water, Chemicals and Detergents (collectively known as regulated products).
In recent times, NAFDAC was criticized for targeting certain businesses, a claim the agency has since dismissed. “We are not disturbing trade; we are protecting lives”, NAFDAC’s Director General, Mojisola Adeyeye said.
However, citizens have called for stricter punishment for anyone involved in the production and distribution of counterfeit products in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the claim that producers of counterfeit products have claimed more lives than terrorism by Boko Haram in Nigeria has garnered more than six thousand engagements on X. But is this assertion verifiable?
Verification:
In Nigeria, insurgency and counterfeit products are major issues with devastating effects.
Counterfeit or substandard products have been defined by the World Health Organization as “those that do not meet quality standards and specifications, often due to poor manufacturing practices or inadequate quality control.”
The WHO also states that “at least 1 in 10 medicines in low- and middle-income countries are substandard or falsified.”
In Nigeria, manufacturers are required to go through NAFDAC verification protocol, including getting a valid, authenticating number, before taking their products to the market.
In December 2024, NAFDAC announced that it destroyed over ₦120bn worth of seized products between July and December 2024 across the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory.
An investigative report into trafficking of medical products in sub-Saharan Africa, the United Nations (Office on Drugs and Crime) reveals that fake medicines kill almost 500,000 sub-Saharan Africans a year.
Furthermore, Ripples Nigeria reports that insurgency by the terrorist group Boko Haram has been claiming thousands of lives, as far back as 2009 when it first launched an attack.
A recent analysis reveals that the terrorist group has launched more than 2,000 violent attacks on government institutions, schools, communities and religious organisations across Nigeria. The analysis shows that Boko Haram has been linked to 15,889 deaths in its 16 years of attacks.
However, data on the number of deaths as a result of counterfeit products is unavailable.
Ripples Nigeria’s request for any available data from NAFDAC has not been granted.
Conclusion
While deaths by the terrorist group Boko Haram totalled 15,889, there are no available data on the death caused by counterfeit products.
By: Quadri Yahya
Source: Ripples
