COURT OF APPEAL AFFIRMS CONVICTION OF "MY PIKIN" MANUFACTURERS

The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has again upheld the judgment of a Lagos High Court, which sentenced two employees of Barewa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Adeyemo Abiodun and Ebele Eromosele, to seven years imprisonment each for selling the contaminated teething formula My Pikin.

In a unanimous decision delivered on Tuesday by the Justice C. E. Iyozoba-led panel of judges, the court held that the appellants' complaint was without merit, adding that throughout the trial, the appellants never denied that they were the manufacturers of the drug. Other judges on the panel were Justices Y. Nimpar and J.Y. Tukur. 

The accused were guilty of selling the contaminated baby teething formula, My Pikin Premium Times

The appellate court had in 2013 delivered a similar judgment, but the Supreme Court faulted its ruling on the ground that it was determined on an abandoned notice and grounds of appeal. 

In its verdict delivered by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, the apex court then ordered that the matter be returned to the Court of Appeal, Lagos, for it to be heard on the “valid notice/grounds of appeal” filed on July 3, 2013. 

Justice C.E. Iyozoba affirmed the conviction and held that samples of the contaminated drug were tested in a laboratory and that the process was transparent. She also held that there was no need for additional scientific evidence as requested by the appellants.

"There was no contradictory evidence, as both the appellants and respondent confirmed that the contaminated drug was manufactured by the appellants," the court held. 

The court, however, held that the lower court was wrong when it convicted the appellants for conspiracy, adding that the prosecution did not establish any evidence showing that the appellants conspired to manufacture and distribute contaminated drugs. 

Consequently, the court set aside their conviction for conspiracy, but added that it will have no effect on the seven-year sentence since the jail terms will run concurrently. 

The court stated that the issue of sentencing is at the discretion of the trial judge as long as it's done judicially and judiciously. 

The court also set aside the order of the lower court winding up the 

company and the order of forfeiture of assets to the Federal Government. 

The court held that Section 118(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act did not empower the trial judge to wind down the company and order forfeiture of its assets. 

It also held that what the trial judge ought to have done was to order forfeiture of the contaminated drugs and not the company. However, it imposed N1 million fine on the appellants.  Justice Okechukwu Okeke of a Federal High Court in Lagos had sentenced Abiodun and Eromosele on 17 May for selling the syrup known as My Pikin. 

The convicts were prosecuted by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).