Sweet Sweet Codeine – inside Nigeria’s deadly cough syrup trade
- Published
Allow YouTube content?
This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read and before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Thousands of young Nigerians are addicted to codeine cough syrup - a medicine that's become a street drug. The government estimates that up to 3 million bottles of the addictive syrup are drunk every day in just two northern states. Taken in excess, codeine can cause psychosis and organ failure.
But who makes this syrup? And who sells it to Nigeria's children?
In this exclusive investigation, Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Africa Eye and Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Pidgin went undercover to find out.
Less than 24 hours after this film was screened, the Nigerian government banned the import and manufacture of codeine-based syrup.
This is the first documentary from Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Africa's new investigations unit, Africa Eye.