Standards Organisation of Nigeria, The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, The NAFDAC Zonal Director, South-East, Dr Martins Iluyomade and The Anambra State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps are sued by Onitsha Traders
In a case that has been brought before a Federal High Court in Awka, four vendors from Ogbo Ogwu Bridge Head Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, have challenged what they perceive as an infringement upon their basic human rights by the following individuals:
Standards Organisation of Nigeria, The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, The NAFDAC Zonal Director, South-East, Dr Martins Iluyomade and The Anambra State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps
Members of the United Nigeria Group C.C. Emereonwu, Peter Okala, Alhaji Yunusa Tanko, and Prof. Samuel Anidike are the four traders that have applied.
Chibuike Nwabueze (Esq.), who is representing them, has asked the court to grant them relief from the defendants, arguing that not all market vendors provide fake pharmaceuticals.
The reliefs sought in suit No. PHC/AWK/CS/40/2025 include a court order prohibiting the respondents and their agents, officers, operatives, and workers from violating the applicants’ rights to privacy by breaking into their shops at Ogbo Ogwu Bridge Head market while they are not there, seizing their goods, and taking them somewhere they don’t know.
In addition, they requested N50 million in exemplary damages from the respondents and an additional N50 million in general damages against the respondents as a consequence of their actions.
The group had convened a press conference prior to their arrival at the court to express their dissatisfaction with NAFDAC’s random invasion and closure of the market without prior notification.
They characterized the action as inhumane and a violation of the citizens’ fundamental rights.
According to them, the traders have suffered a loss of over N200 million as a consequence of the market’s closure for more than ten days, which has resulted in their inability to feed themselves due to the joblessness caused by NAFDAC.
They alleged that NAFDAC, accompanied by operatives from the military, police, and other security agencies, entered the market and seized N500 billion in products.
IREPORT247NEW had earlier reported that Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo has urged the federal government to stop counterfeit drug imports.
To keep harmful products out of local marketplaces, he called for better supply chain oversight.
The appeal follows previous discoveries in Onitsha’s markets, particularly the infamous Ọgbọ Ogwụ market, where regulators found massive amounts of fake and prohibited pharmaceuticals.
Soludo said the remedy must start at the point of entry, when deadly products are smuggled into the country, while local regulatory efforts continue.
“I visited the Ọgbọ Ogwụ and adjoining markets today in Onitsha. As the biggest open drug market in Africa, it is not surprising that federal agencies and regulatory bodies would, from time to time, visit the market to enforce standards and check the sale of fake, counterfeit, and controlled drugs.
“With drugs and related matters strictly under the Exclusive List, my visit today was interventionist. First, I sought to ascertain why other markets close to the drug market in Onitsha were closed.
“Away from the media sensation created by a few political actors, the leadership of the Plumbing Materials Market, which was shut down alongside the drug market, confirmed to me that the discoveries made by regulators in some shops were shocking and disturbing.
“How these drugs, which have been banned globally and locally, are still being manufactured in India, pass through our various ports (sea and air), and find their way to our local drug markets remains a question only the relevant authorities can answer.
Soludo demanded a tougher crackdown on the drug supply chain, emphasizing the need to eliminate fake and counterfeit drugs.
He also ordered expedited market searches to allow legitimate traders at the Plumbing Materials Market to resume their business within 10 days.