Traders at the major Ogbo-Ogwu Drug Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, have initiated legal action against the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), alleging widespread extortion following the market’s closure on February 15, 2025.
NAFDAC operatives had raided the market earlier, discovering over 10 trucks of counterfeit products valued at an estimated N1 trillion, which were subsequently destroyed.
However, the affected traders are now accusing NAFDAC of demanding a N700,000 fee from each shop owner to permit them to reopen their businesses.
Speaking to PUNCH News, traders described NAFDAC’s alleged action as “scandalous, outrageous, and reprehensible,” claiming to possess documented evidence of NAFDAC officially collecting this sum from over 1,000 shop owners.
The aggrieved traders, under the umbrella of the United Nigeria Group, have filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Awka, seeking the enforcement of their fundamental rights, including the immediate reopening of the market.
The suit, which continues its hearing on Thursday, May 29, lists NAFDAC, the Inspector-General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, among others, as respondents.
During a previous hearing on May 22, the applicants’ counsel highlighted the market’s continued closure (106 days) and the alleged levy of N700,000 to N1.3 million imposed by NAFDAC without a court order.
NAFDAC’s counsel, Jombo Washington Esq., denied both the imposition of the levy and the continued closure, asserting that the market had already been unsealed.
In an affidavit, the traders refuted NAFDAC’s social media claims that the seized drugs were fake and that the market had reopened, accusing the agency of attempting to tarnish their image and undermine their livelihoods.
They also claimed NAFDAC had issued a press release in April directing shop owners to sign an undertaking with penalties for past violations, which they rejected as “criminal.”
The traders argue that accepting the fee would imply they deal in illicit drugs, which they deny. They further stated that the prolonged closure has led to “mass death of some affected traders” and suffering that cannot be compensated.
Broader Concerns Raised
The alleged extortion and prolonged market closure have drawn widespread condemnation.
Afam Ogene, leader of the Labour Party caucus in the House of Representatives, expressed deep concern, citing documented evidence of the N700,000 collection.
He questioned the rationale behind such a blanket levy regardless of culpability, stating NAFDAC’s actions are “unethical, unacceptable, and reprehensible” and threaten the agency’s credibility.
Human rights groups, including the Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’ Foundation and Campaign for Democracy, South East Zone, also condemned NAFDAC’s “exploitative and extortionist tendencies,” labelling the N700,000 levy as “extortion and ethnic victimisation.”
While not supporting drug adulteration, they criticised NAFDAC’s operational integrity, including its bureaucracy regarding the registration of life-saving drugs from developed countries.
The groups demanded the immediate return of all collected penalty fees.
