sammy.young:
Cynthia's murder: Press release from the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria


This concerns the two pharmacists arrested in connection with Cynthia Osokogu's murder. Read it below
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) joins millions of Nigerians to empathize with the family of the late Cynthia Osokogu who was lured by friends she met on facebook to Lagos where she was brutalized and eventually killed.
We also commend the Nigeria Police for the professional investigation that led to the arrest of the two young men who admitted openly to have committed the heinous crime.



The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) is interested in a diligent and focused investigation of this murder which continues to attract so much interest from Nigerians to the extent that all found culpable will be made to face the full weight of the law, while innocent people are not unjustly arraigned, prosecuted and punished.

We note with concern the arraignment of two young Pharmacists who were charged along with the confessed suspects for rape, armed robbery, murder and administering of obnoxious substances. These are weighty charges that reflect the gravity of the offences that led to the death of this promising lady. We at Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) indeed perceive this loss as a great one to the Osokogus, friends, colleagues and all Nigerians.

The PSN after a critical appraisal of all issues at stake wishes to reflect thus:
1) Pharmacists as responsible professionals and as legitimate custodians of medicines would continue to champion safe, responsible and rational use of medicines in Nigeria. Our projects and programmes in the last few years have always been geared towards the promotion of safe use of medicines. Having said this, it is important to realize that all medicines are poisons with inherent tendencies for abuse and misuse. Pharmacists have always exercised due diligence, caution and professional judgment in dispensing and sales of medicines. But beyond this, it is difficult to know what a person intends to do or does with the medicine after purchase especially for a premeditated criminal act that involved use of chains, padlocks, tape and other dangerous weapons.

Information available to us indicate:
a. Pharmacist Chukwunonso Maduakor was on duty in Oxpharm in the morning of Monday August 20, 2012. A gentleman approached him and requested to buy Rohypnol. Nonso asked him for a prescription and he said he does not have one. The gentleman begged and pleaded with him that he really needed it with paracetamol. Pharm. Nonso considered his request on compassionate grounds and dispensed to him one (1) card of 10 tablets of flunitrazapam along with one (1) card of Paracetamol. The gentleman goes out of the pharmacy, and then came in again with other persons, arrested Nonso and accused him of selling drug without prescription. They then took him to the Police station, he made statement and was detained for six (6) days in Festac Police Area Command. On the 7th day they transferred him to Panti from where he was taken to a Magistrate Court and was charged for conspiracy, murder, armed robbery, rape and administering obnoxious substances to Miss Cynthia Osokogu who was killed by two known persons a month earlier in July 2012.

b. The second Pharmacists, Pharm. Osita Orji is a Locum Pharmacist with Oxpharm and works evening shifts. The police visited Oxpharm on 21 August 2012 and requested to see Osita. When he got to the station, they alleged that he was the Pharmacist on duty when the suspected killer of Cynthia claimed they bought Rohypnol from Oxpharm. Osita made statement that he did not know the murderers, could not recall meeting them or selling Rohypnol to them and if they ever bought the Rohypnol from him while on duty that they must have presented him with a prescription. Osita was detained in Festac Police Area Command for two (2) days, then transferred to Panti from where he was taken to a Magistrate Court and charged

2) If the liability of the two pharmacists is limited to the sales or alleged sales of rohypnol to clients they do not know and never collaborated with in this condemnable crime then it is logical to believe that at best there might have been breaches of professional ethics. The law provides that such matters are dealt with by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria a regulatory agency of the Federal Government established by Cap. P.17 LFN 2004.

3) The drug in question Rohypnol is an intermediate acting benzodiazepam similar to diazepam (valium), nitrazepam (swidon) and bromazepam (lexotan).

Rohypnol is the brand name of the medicine flunitrazepam and is one of the benzodiazepine class of sedatives or tranquilizer drugs, of which valium or diazepam is perhaps the best known. It is used in the management of anxiety and sleep disorders (short term treatment of insomnia).

Rohypnol is made by Roche in Switzerland, registered with NAFDAC (Reg. No: 04 ? 0150) and distributed in Nigeria by Swipha Nigeria Ltd. It is not a rare drug as being reported. It is available in Nigeria.

4) The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) counsels Nigerians to monitor the use of internet facilities by youths and children particularly because of volume and nature of information available.

5) We urge the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution in the Ministry of Justice in Lagos State to immediately review the cases of these pharmacists with a view to advising the relevant authorities on how best to tackle this matter and to ensure that the innocent is not persecuted albeit unjustly.

CONCLUSION
Gentlemen of the Press, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) assures Nigerians that it will continue to work with stakeholders including relevant regulatory agencies to evolve a National Strategy that will improve the use of medicines in Nigeria. In line with this, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has dedicated September 25, 2012 to continue the dialogue on safe medicines by collaborating with the National Human Rights Commission, Regulatory Agencies, Media and other stakeholders.

One of the salient lessons inherent in the discourse is that our youth while trusting must verify the relationship they make through the social media given the abuse potential.

Once again, we offer our heartfelt condolences to the entire Osokogu family. We pray that God will grant the family the fortitude to bear this loss.

Thank you.

Azubike Okwor FPSN,FPCPHARM,FFIP
President
August 30, 2012

What is the Okwor guy talking about?

Your members are charged with murder and you are here saying what?

The essay is neither here nor there.

Why are they members of a professional association if not for such a time like this?

NMA would have declared an indefinite strike till the right thing is done. They don't joke with their members like you guys. They would use their internal disciplinary mechanism to deal with the erring members, though.

Your members allegedly committed a professional misconduct but are now being charged for murder (murder carries the death penalty sir) and you are here writing treatise as if the Nigeria Police is now LAPD.

@Calloti, its dispensing and not dispensation...lol

If you were a medical or paramedical personnel you'd understand

Dispensing is a pharmaceutical word used in medical parlance to mean giving out drugs to patients.

Dispensation is a general word meaning the act of providing something, especially by someone in authority eg. The dispensation of justice

You can see the word dispensation does not fit in at all

Obinoscopy: @Calloti, its dispensing and not dispensation...lol

If you were a medical or paramedical personnel you'd understand

Dispensing is a pharmaceutical word used in medical parlance

See me see trobu o?

Is dispensation not an act of dispensing?
Dispensation=noun
Dispensing=verb

What exactly is your problem?

I don't know how to explain it to you again. I think you should ask a doctor friend or a pharmacist the difference between the two. I think they will do a better job in clarifying the two.
Peace bro

Obinoscopy: I don't know how to explain it to you again. I think you should ask a doctor friend or a pharmacist the difference between the two. I think they will do a better job in clarifying the two.
Peace bro

I will.
Thanks to the price of RoeHIPnal in Lagos!
*rolleyes eyes*!

Obinoscopy: @Calloti, its dispensing and not dispensation...lol

If you were a medical or paramedical personnel you'd understand

Dispensing is a pharmaceutical word used in medical parlance to mean giving out drugs to patients.

Dispensation is a general word meaning the act of providing something, especially by someone in authority eg. The dispensation of justice

You can see the word dispensation does not fit in at all

Oh dear! Don't bother ave tried to talk some sense into the cretin but apparently his head is made of stone and nothing can get in! Pity...

Sad as it may be, the criminal charges against the pharmacists in this case may be the first step to stopping gross abuse of medications in Nigeria. Yes I know you can pick up drugs at Idumota or wherever, but a licensed pharmacist should show better judgement, especially with a drug like rohypnol known for its nefarious usage.

As far as the conspiracy charges go, I don't have any evidence to hand to dispute either claim. The police may claim the pharmacists have been selling rohypnol to these animals knowing they intended to use it for evil, while the pharmacist is claiming he only wanted to 'help' someone.

I hope they record the grounds for dispensing any medicine at the pharmacy so they can present it as evidence in court.

They should go to court to clear their name and the PSN should support them as they do so.

debosky: Sad as it may be, the criminal charges against the pharmacists in this case may be the first step to stopping gross abuse of medications in Nigeria. Yes I know you can pick up drugs at Idumota or wherever, but a licensed pharmacist should show better judgement, especially with a drug like rohypnol known for its nefarious usage.

As far as the conspiracy charges go, I don't have any evidence to hand to dispute either claim. The police may claim the pharmacists have been selling rohypnol to these animals knowing they intended to use it for evil, while the pharmacist is claiming he only wanted to 'help' someone.

I hope they record the grounds for dispensing any medicine at the pharmacy so they can present it as evidence in court.

They should go to court to clear their name and the PSN should support them as they do so.

Burden of proof rests squarely on the plaintiff. If they can't prove that the pharmacists sold the Rohypnol with the intent to murder or even sedate & r@pe Cynthia then the pharmacists should be acquitted.

Mind you, there's no evidence that the aforementioned pharmacists even sold the drugs to the culprits in the first place. The intern who was arrested was taken into custody because of a cobra sting operation of the policemen (he sold the drugs to policemen who feigned being a patient). The pharmacist denied ever selling the drug to the culprits, he however said that if he had sold it, then they must have presented a prescription to that effect.

The Pharmacy has a log of all prescriptions documented after dispensing controlled drugs such as Rohypnol. Their lawyer will definately present such prescriptions in court when the time comes.

I still maintain my earlier stance that the pharmacists are not guilty of murder even if the court declares that the pharmacists did sold the drug to the criminals without prescription (which is not even true based on what I gathered). Rather they could be guilty of professional misconduct which falls within the purview of PCN to prosecute.

Obinoscopy:
I still maintain my earlier stance that the pharmacists are not guilty of murder even if the court declares that the pharmacists did sold the drug to the criminals without prescription (which is not even true based on what I gathered). Rather they could be guilty of professional misconduct which falls within the purview of PCN to prosecute.

If it can be proven that they sold the rohypnol knowing that the buyers would use it to commit the crime, then they can be found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

debosky:

If it can be proven that they sold the rohypnol knowing that the buyers would use it to commit the crime, then they can be found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

I agree with you 100% on that!
The burden of proof however lies on the plaintiff.

debosky:

If it can be proven that they sold the rohypnol knowing that the buyers would use it to commit the crime, then they can be found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

They'll never be able to prove this.

if the pharmacists had sold the ropynol to cynthia's killers with full knowledge of their intentions, they would have taken part in the r-ape and robbing.

oddly enough, knowing nigeria's slack, outdated laws, ropyhnol may not even be a controlled substance in nigeria.

debosky:

If it can be proven that they sold the rohypnol knowing that the buyers would use it to commit the crime, then they can be found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder.

I understand 2 other victims of Cynthia's killers have surfaced alive. The cause of Cynthia's death must have been strangulation not an overdose of the drug. A conspiracy to commit murder charge should not stick

texazzpete:

They'll never be able to prove this.

I think it might become a case of one person's word against another's. The killers may claim they had bought rohypnol many times from this same pharmacist for the same purpose, while the pharmacist denies all knowledge. I don't know what standard of proof or evidence is required for conviction in Nigeria, and whether other lesser charges like manslaughter, etc. exist.

debosky:

I think it might become a case of one person's word against another's. The killers may claim they had bought rohypnol many times from this same pharmacist for the same purpose, while the pharmacist denies all knowledge. I don't know what standard of proof or evidence is required for conviction in Nigeria, and whether other lesser charges like manslaughter, etc. exist.

i seem to recall the killers denying that they know the pharmacists

in a proper court, oxpharm is to blame for an intern working unsupervised

it all comes down to business processes - if they had a proper process in place - secure storage of controlled drugs with sign off by anyone who sells , camera capture of purchase, valid id with purchase

debosky:

I think it might become a case of one person's word against another's. The killers may claim they had bought rohypnol many times from this same pharmacist for the same purpose, while the pharmacist denies all knowledge. I don't know what standard of proof or evidence is required for conviction in Nigeria, and whether other lesser charges like manslaughter, etc. exist.

The killers were rotating hotels so it's doubtful they would have used the same pharmacy twice.

oyb:

i seem to recall the killers denying that they know the pharmacists

in a proper court, oxpharm is to blame for an intern working unsupervised

it all comes down to business processes - if they had a proper process in place - secure storage of controlled drugs with sign off by anyone who sells , camera capture of purchase, valid id with purchase

That's the point...there are disciplinary measures that will be levied against the pharmacists for selling drugs without a valid prescription. But one thing should be clear: These guys are not guilty of murder, they are not culpable in kidnapping/murder. The actual murder was committed by those killers...they could easily have drugged and raped cynthia and let her live.

@texazzpette, well said. I also urge Pharm Osita, one of the accused, to sue for damages after acquittal. This is because he committed no offence. Infact the only offence he committed was that he does locum at the affected pharmacy. Infact he wasn't even around during the sting operation by the policemen, he was arrested when he went to the station to know why the intern was arrested. He is neither the superintendent pharmacist neither is he the owner of the pharmacy. Mind you, he only works for 4 hrs a day with the pharmacy as a locum pharmacist. I still try to understand why he was arraigned for murder! If I were him I'll sue for damages up to the tune of tens of millions

@Debosky, the evidence required is simple:
The evidence required to prove the criminals bought the drugs that allegedly killed cynthia from the pharmacy is a receipt of purchase.

While the evidence required to prove that the drug was responsible for the death of the victim is an autopsy by an independent forensic expert.

I am not too sure if the president of the PSN is talking on behalf of the PSN, but me-thinks he is talking all by himself out of tribal reasons. He should not forget that Udoka Cynthia is also Igbo, violently raped and brutally murdered by fellow Igbos, and for him as the President of the PSN to come out here and tell us that these 2 pharmacists that are accessories to the rape and murder of this innocent girl should be set free is an insult beyond measure.
In the US, Rohypnol is not approved for use, so I wonder why the PSN should not question why it has been approved in Nigeria. It's known worldwide as "Rape Drug". It's a drug that should have been sold with a prescription from a Doctor and these pharmacists broke the law. I know for sure in the US and other countries that you go to jail for selling or even using prescription drugs illegitimately.
I am sorry to say, this is not a case of professional misconduct that PSN will handle with a small fine or a slap on the wrists to the pharmacists. The 2 pharmacists committed a crime by selling prescription drugs without prescription, a crime that has now made them accessories to murder.
These criminals masquerading as pharmacists must therefore pay the full penalty for being accomplishes to the brutal rape and violent murder of this naive young Igbo girl.