Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria
Sunday March 9, 2025
Continuing Closure Of Onitsha Drug Market: NAFDAC Still Goes To Equity With Unclean Hands
-Intersociety
Onitsha Drug Market Remains Under Lock And Keys
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has continued to go to equity with unclean hands in its ongoing militarist and collective punishment operations in the Onitsha Drug Market, which was shut and kept under lock and keys since Sunday, February 9, 2025; a period of 30 days going into 60 days. It is further informed that contrary to NAFDAC-issued and widely circulated media reports that “the Onitsha Drug Market has been unsealed and re-opened for business, with effect from Friday, March 7, 2025”, the Drug Market has remained sealed and under lock and keys till date. Our checks as of Saturday, Mach 8, 2025 showed that the six affected adjoining markets were conditionally re-opened on Friday, March 7, 2025, as against Onitsha Drug Market which remains under lock and keys and situation of militarization with over a dozen armed soldiers of the Nigerian Army and their patrol vans and armored personnel vehicle as of this day of Sunday, March 9, 2025.
NAFDAC False Claims Of Re-Opening Onitsha Drug Market Strongly Condemned
It is therefore strongly condemnable for NAFDAC to have deliberately misinformed and misled members of the Nigerian public and generality of the world to the effect that “the Onitsha Drug Market has been unsealed and re-opened for business, with effect from Friday, March 7, 2025”. The above false claims not only add to the long list of NAFDAC’s operational illegalities in the Onitsha Drug Market and six recently re-opened adjoining others but also expose the Agency as “having failed woefully to go to equity with clean hands”. Also strongly resisted by the Intersociety are attempts by the Agency to criminalize the Onitsha Drug Market, its members and leadership by publicly portraying it as “a den of fake and illicit drug dealers, assassins and vendors of illicit small arms and light weapons and their ammunitions”.
Condemnation Of NAFDAC’s Recent False Alarms
Our investigative findings strongly suggest that two false alarms raised recently by NAFDAC are deliberately designed for purposes of quipping up public sentiments and justification of the Agency’s operational illegalities in its ongoing militarist and collective punishment operations in the Onitsha Drug Market. It is recalled that NAFADC’s South-East Director, Dr Martin Iluyomade had on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, issued a widely circulated statement, claiming to have “narrowly escaped hoodlums’ attack at Onitsha Drug Market and was rescued by security operatives from the hands of the hoodlums that invaded the Market unnoticed to stop the NAFDAC enforcement team from continuing the ongoing search for fake and expired drugs in the Market”. As if that was not enough, on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, the Agency issued another widely circulated statement, claiming that “the Agency and its security team recovered two riffles, live cartridges and a machete and other weapons hidden by unknown individuals in the Onitsha Drug Market”.
The DG of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye swiftly linked the discovery, without proper criminal investigations by competent security agencies, to “an assassination attempt on NAFDAC’s South-East Director, Dr Martins Ilumoyade”. Investigative findings by the Intersociety however showed that the two claims were untrue. Apart from the fact that no weapons or riffles were discovered anywhere in the Onitsha Drug Market; some “unprohibited firearms” stumbled into by security personnel including operatives of DSS were those stumbled into at the security office of one of the affected six adjoining markets (Onitsha Plumbing Market), belonging to the Market’s local vigilantes. The “unprohibited firearms” stumbled into (. i.e. Single/Double Barreled/Pump Action Guns and their Ammunitions) are also those statutorily allowed under the Firearms Act of 2004.
Our Grouse Against NAFDAC:
We at the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law are hereby restating our earlier position that we have nothing against NAFDAC in its anti-fake and illicit drugs’ sanitization exercise conducted in Lagos, Aba, Onitsha, so long as such operations are carried out within the confines of the law including established processes and procedures; devoid of discrimination as to the ethnicity and the religion of the targeted segment of the general population. However, irrefutable findings made so far, with the ongoing operations in Onitsha Drug Market as a case study, have continued to show that the Agency’s operations are fraught with illegalities and procedural errors and blunders-thereby giving room for them to be caught in a web of corrupt practices including extortion and operational illegalities and inconsistencies.
Re-Opening Of Onitsha Drug Market Likely To Be In Next 2-3 Weeks Or More…
The re-opening of the Onitsha Drug Market is likely to take next two or three weeks, if not more from today, being Sunday, March 9, 2025. The expected longer period for the re-opening of the Market has been brought by a flurry of operational illegalities, blunders and inconsistencies that marred the NAFDAC’s militarist and collective punishment operations in the Onitsha Drug Market operations since Sunday, February 9, 2025. It is further reminded that most of these operational illegalities were detailed in our advocacy letters of February 24/26, 2025, and their accompanied advocacy statement of February 26, 2025. Reliable sources at the Market have also informed the Intersociety that “NAFDAC is in dilemma over its earlier decision to embark on blanket operations involving break-ins in the absence of shop owners or their reps or their line and central leaders; during which a flurry of illegalities and corrupt practices were widely reported; as a result of which leaders of the Market were retroactively ordered last week by the Agency to “compile and forward all the names of their shop owners, shop numbers and their line locations. It is widely feared that such unlawful and extra-legal directive is to backdate the Agency’s records and legitimize or erase the illegalities and possible corrupt practices connected thereto. The unlawful directive is also being forced on leaders of the Market as one of the conditions for re-opening their Market, likely to be hearkened to under duress. The expected longer period for re-opening of the Market is likely designed by the Agency to clean its operational mess and other illegalities or inconsistencies thereto. Leaders of the Market have been summoned to appear before the South-East Zone of NAFDAC in coming few days to be given a flurry of terms and conditions for re-opening of the Market. Traders of the Market are also most likely to be directed to pay a flurry of fees including “poor storage fees”; possibly for every shop and other sundry fees running into millions of naira per shop. Totality of the above is nothing short of corruption including extortion.
Monitoring Of Bank Accounts Of NAFDAC And Security Operatives As Integrity Test
We renew our call on NAFDAC and High Commands of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force to embark on immediate Integrity Test for all field operatives of NAFDAC and officers and personnel of the Nigerian Army and officers and personnel of the Nigerian Police Force, other than officers and personnel of the Department of the State Security Services deployed in the ongoing NAFDAC operations in Onitsha Drug Market including the withdrawn and the stationed. The referenced officers and personnel must include their barracks commanders. The monitoring of movement of money in and out of their bank accounts for six months, from February 9 to August 9, 2025, must include those of their spouses and grown-up children above 17 Years of Age using their biometrics including NIN and BVN numbers. Such electronic monitoring is to further ascertain the actual role they played in the Onitsha Drug Market NAFDAC operations and ensure that cash sums in their bank accounts are commensurate with their legitimate earnings and renumerations as “Serving Civil/Public Servants” in Nigeria. There must be comprehensive investigations into the entire operations and the Market re-opened without further delays.
Signed:
For: International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety)
· Chinwe Umeche Esquire
Head, Democracy and Good Governance Program
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
· Chidinma Evangeline Udegbunam Esquire
Head, Campaign and Publicity
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
· Obianuju Joy Igboeli Esquire
Head, Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
· Emeka Umeagbalasi
Criminologist and Graduate of Security Studies
Board Chair, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
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