Group slams N100m law suit against NAFDAC over closure of Onitsha drug market
The United Nigeria Group (UNG) has dragged the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to the Federal High Court in Awka, Anambra State.
The court action, which the group said is for the enforcement of their fundamental human rights, is coming on the heels of the recent closure of the Onitsha Bridge Head Drug Market known for selling drugs (Ogbo Ogwu).
NAFDAC is seeking to clear the market of fake and substandard drugs, while the group is seeking N100 million in damages from NAFDAC.
The group contended that not all the traders are involved in the sale of fake and substandard products, insisting that the goods passed through the Customs and the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) before reaching Onitsha.
According to the group, traders should not be punished for what they described as the fault of the relevant government agencies.
The Suit No. PHC/AWK/CS/40/2025, dated 18/02/2025, against NAFDAC, the applicant said that NAFDAC broke into their shops without a court order or search warrant and carted away goods and drugs, which they noted, violated their fundamental rights.
UNG requested that the court order NAFDAC to return the goods and drugs that were confiscated and taken away and further restrain NAFDAC or its agents from further breaking into their shops and removing their goods, and claim damages of N100 million.
Addressing journalists on the development on Wednesday, the applicant, Sir Peter Okala, who doubles as the National Convener of UNG, said they are in court to enforce the fundamental rights of their members.
He said: “We are challenging NAFDAC’s activities at Ogbo Ogwu because they infringed on their fundamental human rights.”
Speaking on behalf of the board of trustees and members of UNG, Okala said that their members’ rights were violated by NAFDAC’s actions.
He said: “You may recall that on 10th February 2025, a combined team of officers, officials, operatives, agents, as well as armed soldiers drawn from the Onitsha Military Cantonment under the auspices of NAFDAC raided the popular Ogbo Ogwu Market, Niger Bridge Head, Onitsha, Anambra State.
“They broke into traders’ shops, confiscated goods worth ?500 billion, and carted them away to an unknown destination without any notice, court order, or search warrant.
“Before this raid on 10th February 2025, the members of the applicants whose shops were involved in the raid were not under any NAFDAC or police investigation whatsoever.
“However, on 10th February 2025, NAFDAC raided the popular Ogbo Ogwu Market at Niger Bridge Head, Onitsha, Anambra State, confiscating large quantities of pharmaceutical products, drugs, and other non-consumables from the applicants’ members’ shops without a valid court order or search warrant.
“The South East Zonal Director of NAFDAC, Dr. Martins Iluyomade, who led the operation, took both market leaders and traders by surprise.
“NAFDAC operatives, without a valid court order and search warrant, moved from shop to shop, breaking into these shops in the absence of their owners, confiscating and carting away a wide range of drugs and products to an unknown destination.”
While saying NAFDAC operatives have spies in the market, Okala observed that some of the spies are jealous of fellow traders who are doing well in legitimate business and are more successful than them.
His words: “They are therefore out to pull them down by collaborating with NAFDAC.”
“It is a known fact that NAFDAC operatives undertook the raid without a valid court order, based on the false assumption that members of the applicants at Ogbo Ogwu Market were involved in repackaging and rebagging drugs in the market, which is not true.
“NAFDAC and their operatives have refused to show or provide any applicant member’s shop at Ogbo Ogwu Market where the alleged counterfeit drugs were repackaged or rebagged.
“This raid has crippled over 2,000 businesses belonging to members of the United Nigeria Group (UNG), rendering the traders whose shops were broken into in their absence, without any valid court order or search warrant, helpless for life.
“This raid is not only targeted at UNG members at the Niger Bridge Head, Onitsha, but also at UNG members in other markets in the South East Zone, including Aba, Onitsha, Umuahia, Enugu, Abakaliki, and others.
“The drugs and other materials confiscated and carted away so far by NAFDAC, without any valid court order and in the absence of shop owners, are estimated to be worth N500 billion.”
The UNG National Convener regretted that NAFDAC operation at Ogbo Ogwu Market has rendered over 2,000 members of UNG out of business, with no other means of livelihood.
He insisted that the raid was carried out without notice to either the Bridge Head Market leadership, Ogbo Ogwu leadership, or the executives of the various lines and associations.
According to him, the exercise was carried out in violation of the fundamental rights of members of UNG who were absent during the raid.
He added: “NAFDAC swooped on unsuspecting traders at the market without any valid court order or search warrant.
“This world itself is a marketplace, and humanity in general are all traders, trading in cash or in kind during one’s lifetime on earth. Therefore, any breach of the fundamental rights of any trader at Onitsha, Oshodi, Aba, or Wuse Market in Abuja is an injury to all traders worldwide.
“About 90 percent of the drugs and beverages confiscated by NAFDAC in this operation at Ogbo Ogwu Market, Niger Bridge Head, Onitsha, without any valid court order, were not made in Nigeria; they were all imported from Europe and America.
“Where were NAFDAC, Customs, Immigration, the Army, and other security agencies when these goods passed through our country’s borders into Nigerian markets without detection or seizure from the importers?”
