The ongoing leadership crisis rocking the Ogbo-Ogwu Pharmaceutical Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, has further compounded the woes of traders, leaving many stranded and unable to access their shops.

A large section of the market has been shut for three months by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.

Findings by our correspondent revealed that the market is currently controlled by three factional leaders.

While one faction denied NAFDAC’s claim that the market had been reopened, another group insisted that it had been open since March 7, 2025.

The market is currently overseen by the Caretaker Transition Committee Chairman, Ndubuisi Chukwuleta.

The other factions are the ‘Concerned and Genuine Members of Ogbo-Ogwu Drug Market’ and the ‘United Nigeria Group’.

Operatives of NAFDAC, led by the Director of the South-East Zone, Dr Martins Iluyomade, had earlier raided the market and uncovered over 10 truckloads of “fake products” estimated to be worth over N1tn.

Similar operations were also carried out at the open drug markets in Idumota, Lagos, and Ariaria and Aba.

The market was subsequently shut down as part of a nationwide enforcement campaign by NAFDAC, conducted between February 9 and March 27, 2025.

The counterfeit drugs were later destroyed at the ASWAMA dump site in Awka following the exercise.

Various penalties and fines ranging from N700,000 to N1.3m were allegedly imposed on defaulting traders before their shops could be reopened.

In a statement, NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof Moji Adeyeye, defended the agency’s actions, stating that the penalties imposed on non-compliant operators were in line with gazetted federal regulations.

She noted that these included a N5m fine for the sale of unregistered products, later reduced to N200,000 after appeals, and a N2m penalty for GSDP violations, which was also reduced to N500,000.

The market closure and regulatory actions since February 9 have triggered widespread reactions and fears of economic displacement within Anambra’s trading community.

The affected traders lamented that the development had brought untold hardship, starvation, and loss of income.

When our correspondent visited the market on Tuesday, only scant activity was observed, and the area appeared deserted, a sharp contrast to the usual bustle the market is known for.

Only a handful of shops belonging to traders who had paid the required fines was open, while many others remained shut.

In a market that accommodates an estimated 15,000 traders, only a few traders with partially opened shops were seen attending to customers.

Speaking to our correspondent, a trader, who simply identified himself as Okey, said, “The factional leadership of the market is worsening the situation and working at cross purposes.

“While the caretaker committee is collaborating with NAFDAC to ensure traders comply with the directives, other groups remain aggrieved. This disunity is one of the reasons the market has not fully reopened since NAFDAC concluded its raid on March 27. Although some traders have paid the fines and had their shops unsealed, they are still very few, which is why business activities remain low.”

Several aggrieved traders have accused the Chukwuleta-led caretaker committee of colluding with NAFDAC to keep the market closed and “extorting” traders under the guise of revenue generation.

However, Chukwuleta denied the allegations, insisting that shops belonging to traders who have paid the fines have since been reopened.

While defending the actions of NAFDAC, he said those aggrieved were not genuine traders in the market.

“The exercise did not take place only here in Anambra. It was the same in Lagos and Aba. Everyone is paying the fines based on what was found in each person’s shop. There’s a sketch of the Connected Wholesale Centre that the Federal Government proposed for the four centres – Lagos, Kano, Abia, and Anambra.

“Only Kano has complied and completed it. Mr Governor is currently building that of Anambra in Oba. It has been more than 10 years since they asked us to build it. They didn’t go to Kano; it was only Lagos, Onitsha, and Aba. And they penalised every shop for poor storage,” Chukwuleta said.

He further disclosed that it was through the intervention of government representatives that the fine of N2m was reduced to N500,000, and that the clearance meant to be done in Enugu is now being carried out at the NAFDAC office in Onitsha.

Only 200 shops unsealed

However, the Convener of the United Nigeria Group, Peter Okala, said only 200 shops had been unsealed out of over 5,000 shops in the market.

He claimed that NAFDAC rushed to unseal some shops when the agency observed that the aggrieved traders had challenged the matter in court.

Okala questioned the rationale behind imposing fines of between N700,000 and N1.3m on all the shops in the market when, in reality, NAFDAC did not find counterfeit drugs in all the shops.

The convener said his group had approached the Federal High Court in Awka, the state capital, to enforce the fundamental rights of its members who had been denied their legitimate means of livelihood.

https://punchng.com/division-worsens-anambra-drug-market-closure-crisis/