Onitsha shut down following protests over ban on drugs sale in open market

The commercial city of Onitsha in Anambra State
was shut down on Wednesday following a protest
by drug dealers against the proposed ban on sale
of drugs in the open market by the Federal
Government.
Drug dealers at the Bridge-Head Drug Market,
numbering over 10, 000, grounded commercial
activities and vehicular movements in the ever busy
Onitsha-Enugu Express Way.
The traders moved from one portion of the road to
the other, chanting anti-federal government songs.
They also carried placards with inscriptions such
as “South-East governors help us; If drug market is
closed, it will lead to more crime; Over 10,000 eke-
out their livelihood from drug market and Action
Governor Peter Obi, help us”.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Onitsha
Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers Union
(OPPMDU), Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, who spoke on
behalf of the traders, said the planned policy of
government would affect the livelihood of over 10,
000 drug traders, their families and extended family
members.
He appealed to government to look at the
economic implication of the policy especially for
thousands of youths who were learning drug
trading in Anambra and other states.
He said, “We are appealing to the South-East
governors through the South-East Governors’
Forum to call on the Federal Government to rescind
its decision in the interest of security and economic
well-being of the South-East and the country.
Moreover, we have over 5,000 shops at this Bridge-
Head Drug Market and over 10,000 traders doing
business here. What happens to them and their
direct dependents and extended family members?
“The proposed complex the government wants to
use for its State and Mega Drug Distribution
Centres (SMDDCs) in Onitsha only have 124 shops.
We all know that there is a dearth of pharmacists
to effectively cover these shops and administer
drugs to our people”.