Ignore calls for protest against NAFDAC, Police urges Anambra residents

---

---

By Madu Obi

The Anambra State Police command has urged the residents of the state to ignore the call by some human rights activists to embark on a protest against the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, over the recent closure of the Head Bridge drug market in Onitsha.

The command accused some individuals of engaging in discussions about Anambra State on social media under the guise of human rights activists, to incite the public against government agencies, the Police, and other security agencies and urged the people to resist it and disassociate themselves from any act that could threaten public peace.

According to the command's Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the action of NAFDAC was in line with the Federal Government directives to conduct a raid operation to remove unregistered, expired, banned, diverted donated drugs, substandard, falsified, and illicit narcotics and controlled substances from the three major Open Drug Markets (ODM) in the country.

The statement by the PPRO read: "Anambra State happened to be one of the states where the enforcement took place. Meanwhile, the command has taken necessary steps to escalate the complaints of the traders for the agency's necessary action.

The state Police command, after a critical threat analysis based on the information and intelligent reports of these individuals' actions to cause tension in the state, as the intended protest could be hijacked by criminals to wreak havoc.

The Command shall continue to live up to its mandate of ensuring that no person or group of persons is allowed to infringe on the fundamental human rights of others, especially the rights to freedom of movement and the dignity of human persons.

Further discussion by the Command and the leadership of the market revealed that the alleged action of the leaders of the protest was motivated by some persons in the market, as the leadership distanced itself from such and pledged to work with the relevant agencies to identify the defaulters among them."