Rights group condemns blanket closure of Onitsha drug market, calls for immediate reopening

By Alphonsus Nweze, Onitsha

Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’Foundation (HURIDE) has condemned in strong term the blanket closure of Onitsha Drug Market and other adjoining markets at Onitsha Bridge Head in Anambra State.
In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dede Uzor A Uzor, the hunan right body outrightly and unequivocally condemned the total closure of Onitsha Drug Market, Plumbing Materials Market, Iron Rod Market and other adjoining Markets.
The market was closed down on Monday 10th of Feb 2025 at about 4 am by some detachments of both soldiers and other security forces who invaded it.
According to sources the primary aim of the closure was to impound and confiscate fake, expired and unwholesome drugs in the market.
But HURIDE said this was not war against fake and adulterated drugs but to totally clampdown on goods of innocent traders especially those who are not dealing on drugs and whose products were even approved by NAFDAC.
The group said the report they got from the market was that NAFDAC officials have been forcibly breaking into the shops of these drug dealers to search for unwholesome drugs without the owners being present.
They warned NAFDAC officials that they should be ready to give account of approved expensive drugs and money packed in the shops by traders before they left for home which they are now breaking without the owners being present.
In 2007 when the late Prof. Dora Akunyili closed down the same Market,traders were allowed to be present when their shops were being searched because some of them left huge amount of money in their shops.
“How would you punish the sinners and the righteous together?
Does it mean that everyone in the market engage in unwholesome drugs trade?What about those who have large some of money left in their shops? Who would account for them? Who would also account for these expensive drugs with NAFDAC numbers that are being carted away” HURIDE queried.
The rights group continued their query: “How can they compensate the individuals their shops were broken into after discovering that the individuals were clean? Who would lock up the shop again and with which keys? What happened to the monies in individual shops since these traders were not allowed to be present during these checks”?
HURIDE said as Nigerians, every citizen’s right should protected, since their rights are guaranteed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
They asked NAFDAC to deploy new strategies of tracking down those who are dealing with fake and expired drugs in order not to trample on the rights of innocent Nigerians.
It is important, said the rights group, to make it clear that they are not in anyway in support of those who engage in fake related business, saying that they should be fished out and prosecuted in line with our extant laws but the innocents should not be made to suffer with the guilty ones by barring them from carrying out their legitimate business.
The group said in order to avoid continuous closure of the Market, subjecting the innocent ones to unnecessary punishment, NAFDAC should support the authorities for ongoing building of a standard drug Market at Oba which will help to checkmate sale of fake,unwholesome and adulterated drugs.