Onitsha Drug Market Hands Over ₦435 Million Worth of Fake Drugs to NAFDAC
The leadership of the Onitsha Drug Market, popularly known as Ogbogwu Market, Bridge Head, has handed over 192 items of substandard and falsified drugs valued at about ₦435 million to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control for destruction.
The handover took place on Monday as part of ongoing efforts by the market leadership and NAFDAC to eliminate counterfeit and adulterated medicines from the nation’s drug supply chain.
More than 400 cartons of the suspected fake drugs were voluntarily surrendered by traders between December 2025 and June 2026.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Chairman of the Market Caretaker Committee, Mr. Chukwuleta Ndubisi, said the exercise reflected the collective commitment of traders to sanitise the market and restore public confidence in medicines sold at the market.
He commended the market taskforce and executive members for supporting the campaign against substandard and falsified drugs despite the challenges encountered.
Receiving the items on behalf of NAFDAC, the agency’s Deputy Director of Investigation and Enforcement for the South East and South South regions, Mr. Omoyeni Tunji, praised the market leadership for working closely with the agency to combat the circulation of fake drugs.
He disclosed that the seized items would be transported to NAFDAC’s destruction site in Awka for proper disposal.
The development marks another step in the ongoing collaboration between NAFDAC and stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sector to protect public health and strengthen efforts against the production and distribution of counterfeit medicines across Nigeria.
