Ogbo-Ogwu Market Hands Over N265m Worth of Fake, Expired Drugs to NAFDAC

Ogbo-Ogwu Market, also known as the Bridge Head Medicine Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, has handed over fake, expired and substandard drugs valued at about N265 million to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

The handover was carried out by the Chairman of the market, Mr Ndubisi Chukwuleta, who said the items were confiscated by the market’s taskforce during routine monitoring and in the aftermath of NAFDAC raids conducted earlier this year. He explained that the taskforce carries out regular searches across the market to identify and remove counterfeit, banned and unsafe pharmaceutical products.

According to Chukwuleta, some of the drugs were seized last year, while others were recovered following recent enforcement operations by NAFDAC. He said the market leadership remains committed to eliminating all forms of illicit drug trading and will continue to intensify monitoring despite resistance from unscrupulous traders.

He stressed that the market would not tolerate the activities of dealers who endanger public health by selling fake or expired medicines, adding that intimidation and opposition would not deter ongoing efforts to sanitise the market.

The drugs were received at NAFDAC’s Agulu office in Anaocha Local Government Area by the Anambra State Coordinator of the agency, Pharm. Louis Maduabattah, who commended the market leadership for its proactive stance against counterfeit and expired medicines.

Maduabattah disclosed that more than 400 cartons of pharmaceutical products, most of them expired or unregistered, were handed over and would be kept in NAFDAC’s warehouse pending destruction. He described the action as a responsible and standard practice expected of all pharmaceutical markets.

He noted that the market’s internal mechanism for identifying and removing unwholesome products contributes significantly to protecting public health and strengthening regulatory compliance.