Rights group, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), has urged the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to unconditionally refund estimated N3 b-N3.5 b extorted from over 3,000 Onitsha drug market traders in Anambra state with 20% interest.
Intersociety made the call in a statement signed by its Head, Emeka Umeagbalasi; Head, Democracy and Good Governance, Chinwe Umeche; and Head, Religious Freedom and Human Rights, Chidinma Evangeline Udegbunam.
“We also understand that between 3,500 and 3,800 affected traders have been forced to pay as of Thursday, May 29, 2025, according to sources linked to the market.
“We are bold to say that no number of excuses or policy defence and sanctification can justify such imposition and forceful collection from traders that have been kept out of their legitimate businesses for more than 90 days.
“It is also our insistence that we are steadily in solidarity with over 90% of the traders in the market who are genuine drug traders, including those trading on pharmaceutically produced and supplied products and lifesaving and body system supplement drugs.
“We are also in no way in support of those trading on expired, counterfeit, substandard and fake drugs or products,” it added.
The Nigeria’s leading research and investigative rights, rule of law, democracy and security and safety advocacy group since 2008, noted that the Onitsha Drug Market is presently 14,000-Person strong, comprising about 7,000 business owners occupying about 5000 market stalls and packing stores and estimated 7,000 others comprising apprentices, salesgirls, hawkers and others providing menial services.
Recalled that the Intersociety have consistently led the way in the campaign for the unconditional re-opening of the Market and public accountability by NAFDAC regarding its militarist, extortionist and collective punishment operations in the market.
They further submitted more than ten public interest petitions and issued several media statements thereto, including to NAFDAC
Director General (twice), Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra state (twice), Minister of Health (twice), Police IGP, Army Chief of Staff, DSS, the NSA, Senate and House of Reps Committees on Health.
Disappointingly, even though the referenced public interest petitions were attached with far-reaching findings, demands and recommendations and under extreme urgency and public importance, only those addressed to the Anambra State House of Assembly Speaker, Hon Afam Ogene and Sen. Tony Nwoye received a degree of legislative attention.
Shockingly, NAFDAC DG received hers twice with evidential proofs of delivery but chose to ignore them to date. The NAFDAC DG’s referenced statements included that of May 26, 2025, in which she falsely accused a leading social media influencer, “very dark man” (Martins Vicent Otse), of “colluding with fake drug merchants and inciting public unrest”.
The NAFDAC DG had also in the same statement claimed that “the Onitsha drug market was re-opened on March 9, 2025, and over 2,500 traders occupying 3,500 shops have resumed operations, having complied with the necessary regulatory procedures” (including payment of the sundry extortionist fees under contention).
The NAFDAC DG issued another statement on tuesday, may 27, 2025, consciously or unwittingly indicting her agency by admitting the imposition and forceful collection of the sundry extortionist fees she tagged: “administrative fee of N5m (per product/brand) for selling unregistered (multinational) products which was later reduced to N200,000 after pleas”
She also admitted that her agency collected another extortionist fee tagged: a separate N2m charge for violating good storage and distribution practices, also reduced to N500,000”.
In other words, a wholesaler of such products who has “complied with NAFDAC’s extortionist conditions” is likely to have paid the Agency as follows: N1.4m (for having not registered each of brands or products) if he or she has seven brands or products; another N200,000 (for poor storage) if he or she has a packing store and another N700,000 (for poor storage) if he or she has a market store.
“We have also investigated and found that NAFDAC effected the collection of the sundry extortionist fees by using the Agency’s CBN-linked account number and details as follows: Account Name: NAFDAC Project TSA; Account No. 3000063142; Bank: Central Bank of Nigeria; Payment Channel: Real Time Gross Settlement.
“The referenced CBN-linked NAFDAC’s TSA account was found to have been blocked hours after the unconditional re-opening of the Market on May 28, 2025, and abrupt cancellation of the sundry extortionist payment exercise,” it stated
