Traders at the Ogbo-Ogwu Bridgehead Drug Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Tuesday protested the continuous closure of their shops by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration, and Control.
The traders, under the aegis of Concerned and Genuine Members of Ogbo-Ogwu Drug Market, lamented that the development has brought untold hardship and financial burdens upon them.
The aggrieved protesters, numbering over 2,000, carried placards with different inscriptions and marched around the market starting from Oshogbo Park, up to the River Niger Bridge, Onitsha, and back to Uga Junction, claiming that no fewer than five traders have died and several others have been hospitalised due to depression and hunger.
They alleged that NAFDAC is demanding N2 million from each person before they would reopen the market.
While addressing journalists during the protest, the National Convener/Secretary of Concerned Genuine Members of Ogbo-Ogwu Drugs Market, Ifeanyi Chinedu, said their shops are still under lock and key, contrary to NAFDAC’s claims that it has reopened them