By Chimaobi Nwaiwu
NNEWI — The leadership of the Ogbo Ogwu Medicine Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, has handed over fake, expired and other unwholesome drugs valued at more than N430 million to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for destruction, as part of efforts to rid the market of illicit pharmaceutical products.
The drugs, which were handed over on Monday, were seized by the market’s task force between December 2025 and June 2026 during routine enforcement operations. Some of the expired products were also voluntarily submitted by traders for proper disposal.
Speaking during the exercise, Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the market, Mr. Chukwuleta Ndubisi, said the market leadership remained committed to sanitising the market despite resistance from individuals involved in the illicit drug trade.
He explained that the seized products included banned, fake, expired and other unwholesome drugs that traders attempted to smuggle into the market or were discovered during inspections of shops.
According to him, the market’s enforcement team regularly conducts surveillance across the market to identify and confiscate prohibited products, stressing that no drug outlawed by relevant authorities would be allowed to be sold.
Ndubisi noted that an increasing number of traders now voluntarily surrender expired drugs to the union for onward transfer to NAFDAC, describing the development as evidence of growing compliance within the market.
He, however, alleged that efforts to sanitise the market had attracted opposition from a cartel involved in the illicit drug business.
“We are collaborating with NAFDAC to sanitise the market. The only challenge we face is from those whose illegal businesses have been disrupted. They have resorted to propaganda, threats and attempts to frustrate our leadership, but we remain determined to eliminate fake and unwholesome drugs from this market,” he said.
He added that members of the Caretaker Committee had received threats over the ongoing crackdown but insisted the campaign would continue until the market is fully sanitised.
Receiving the confiscated products, NAFDAC’s Deputy Director of Investigation and Enforcement for the South-East and South-South, Mr. Omoyeni Tunji, commended the market leadership for its cooperation with the agency.
Tunji said the drugs comprised items seized by the market task force as well as expired products voluntarily surrendered by traders for destruction.
He disclosed that the market handed over about 400 cartons of unwholesome drugs, adding that the agency was aggregating confiscated products ahead of a scheduled destruction exercise in Awka, Anambra State.
According to him, more than 192 pharmaceutical products remain banned from sale in Nigerian markets, stressing that NAFDAC would continue to work closely with the market leadership to prevent such products from finding their way into circulation.
Tunji also reaffirmed NAFDAC’s recognition of the current Caretaker Committee led by Ndubisi as the legitimate leadership of the market, noting that the agency conducts its operations in collaboration with the committee and the market task force to avoid unnecessary tension.
He acknowledged reports of internal disputes within the market and disclosed that NAFDAC was engaging all parties to ensure peace while sustaining efforts to eliminate fake and substandard medicines from the market.
