NAFDAC accepts to re-open Onitsha Drug market unconditionally….to refund N3.5 billion with Interest
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) under the watch of Prof Moji Adeyeye has finally bowed to pressure, announced the unconditional reopening of Onitsha Drug Market and ordered all market stalls to be re-opened unconditionally.
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) broke the news via a statement issued earlier today in Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra State, saying: “it was a tumultuous joy and celebration on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at the Onitsha Drug Market when a high-powered NAFDAC delegation escorted by some heavily armed personnel, believed to be officers and personnel of the Department of the State Security Services (SSS) stormed the Market and ordered all shops under lock and key since Feb 9, 2025 by NAFDAC to be unconditionally re-opened.”
Giving more details, Intersociety said in the statement signed by its Head, Emeka Umeagbalasi; Head, Democracy and Good Governance, Chinwe Umeche, Esquire; and Head, Religious Freedom and Human Rights, Chidinma Evangeline Udegbunam, Esquire:
The Onitsha Drug Market is presently 14,000-Person strong, comprising about 7,000 business owners occupying about 5000 market stalls and packing stores and estimated 7,000 others comprising apprentices, salesgirls, hawkers and others providing menial services.
It is also recalled that we at Intersociety have consistently led the way in the campaign for the unconditional re-opening of the Market and public accountability by NAFDAC regarding its militarist, extortionist and collective punishment operations in the Market.
We further submitted more than ten public interest petitions and issued several media statements thereto. The letters were successfully sent to relevant top government establishments including NAFDAC DG (twice), Gov Charles Soludo of Anambra State (twice), Minister of Health (twice), Police IGP, Army Chief of Staff, DG-SSS, the NSA, Senate and House of Reps Committees on Health and NAFDAC, the Senator, representing Anambra North Senatorial District, House of Reps Members representing the Ogbaru and the Onitsha Federal Constituencies as well as the Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly.
Disappointingly, even though the referenced public interest petitions were attached with far-reaching findings, demands and recommendations and under extreme urgency and public importance, only those addressed to the Anambra State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon Afam Ogene and Senator Tony Nwoye received a degree of legislative attention. Shockingly, NAFDAC DG received hers twice with evidential proofs of delivery but chose to ignore them till date. Time and space may not allow us at Intersociety to reproduce mind-boggling findings and far-reaching recommendations made or reflected in the referenced public interest petitions.
Apart from the referenced petitions of ours including those dated February 24 and 25, 2025 and April 29, 2025, and several media statements connected thereto; we have also been following the goings-on at the Market including reading and analyzing recent statements by NAFDAC DG, Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye who was first appointed for five-year tenure as NAFDAC DG on Dec 1, 2017 and re-appointed for second and final term on Dec 1, 2022. The NAFDAC DG’s referenced statements included that of May 26, 2025, in which she falsely accused a leading social media influencer, “Very Dark Man” (Martins Vincent Otse) of “colluding with fake drug merchants and inciting public unrest”.
As if that was not enough, the NAFDAC DG exhibited a culture of incorrigibility and went further to incite security agencies against Activist Citizen Martins Vincent Otse (Very Dark Man) and falsely accused him of “violating the Cyberstalking Act”. The NAFDAC DG had also in the same statement claimed that “the Onitsha Drug Market was re-opened on March 9, 2025, and over 2,500 traders occupying 3,500 shops have resumed operations, having complied with the necessary regulatory procedures” (including payment of the sundry extortionist fees under contention). The NAFDAC DG issued another statement on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, consciously or unwittingly indicting her Agency by admitting the imposition and forceful collection of the sundry extortionist fees she tagged: “administrative fee of N5m (per product/brand), for selling unregistered (multinational) products which was later reduced to N200,000 after pleas” She also admitted that her Agency collected another extortionist fee tagged: a separate N2m charge for violating Good Storage and Distribution Practices, also reduced to N500,000”.
Contrary to the National Agency for Food and Drug Control and Administration’s DG’s claims, there are three major types or categories of extortion fees introduced and enforced by the Agency at Onitsha Drug Market; namely: “Poor Storage Fee of N700,000” for every market store owner and a separate “N200,000 Poor Storage Fee” for every packing store owner at the Market. The third extortionist fee is labeled: “N200,000 charge for each multinational drug or product and its wholesaler including lifesaving and food and body system supplement drugs or products unregistered by NAFDAC”. Imposed, too, was self-incriminating undertakings made mandatory for every payer-trader at the Market.
In other words, a wholesaler of such products who has “complied with NAFDAC’s extortionist conditions” is likely to have paid the Agency as follows: N1.4m (for having not registered each of brands or products) if he or she has seven brands or products; another N200,000 (for poor storage) if he or she has a packing store and another N700,000 (for poor storage) if he or she has a market store. We have also investigated and found that NAFDAC affected the collection of the sundry extortionist fees by using the Agency’s CBN-linked account number and details as follows: Account Name: NAFDAC Project TSA; Account No. 3000063142; Bank: Central Bank of Nigeria; Payment Channel: Real Time Gross Settlement. The referenced CBN-linked NAFDAC’s TSA account was found to have been blocked hours after the unconditional re-opening of the Market on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, and abrupt cancellation of the sundry extortionist payment excecie.
