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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has vowed to prosecute suspected dealers in expired and adulterated drugs arrested in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, during its enforcement operation in February 2025.
This is following the arrest of Lazarus Chidiebere, a patent medicine dealer, alleged to be one of the major importers of expired drugs in the South-East Zone of Nigeria.
Chidiebere has been on the run 5-months after NAFDAC Enforcement Unit in conjunction with security agencies discovered expired and adulterated drugs in his shop in EKUMI Plaza and residence, during a special raid operation, geared towards ridding the local markets of unregistered, expired, banned, diverted donation drugs.
A joint team of NAFDAC, the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police, and the Department of State Services (DSS), on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, after thorough investigation, stormed Onwukwe’s residence in Umuocheala, a suburb of Aba, and bursted what the agency described as the biggest fake and expired drug laboratory and depot in South-East Zone.
During the February raid, NAFDAC discovered a mini drug laboratory in one of the buildings, where expired products were repackaged, revalidated and rebranded and pushed back into the markets for public consumption.
Omoyeni Babatunji, a pharmacist and deputy director, in charge of Investigation and Enforcement, NAFDAC in South-East and South-South Zones, while addressing newsmen onThursday evening of July 24, 2025, at the Umuocheala, Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area residence of the suspect, said that he was apprehended while leaving the house after sneaking in.
Babatunji, explained that after the operation in February, NAFDAC evacuated 14 trucks by 10-tons of expired drugs from Onwukwe’s residence-a twin two storey duplex with boy’s Quarters and other bungalows separated by a fence and later sealed the buildings, while the suspect was at large.
“Those who were here in February can recall that even the gate got broken, and we had to fix it and put a government seal on this place. The two vehicles, a Highlander and a Camry that we saw here back then, are still at the premises of the Aba Area Command Headquarters.
“Following the surveillance that we put in place on this building back then, we never expected that this man would even make an attempt to come back, because he has been sending a lot of people to our different offices, but we kept insisting he must be brought. However, he thought that the government had forgotten about him, but as you can see, that’s not the case at all.
“We moved round the whole house back then, and everywhere was full of expired drugs, which we took to our laboratory for examination.
“Suddenly today, we are seeing everywhere occupied by tenants. We’ve also confirmed that we don’t have any drugs in the building again.
“However, this morning (Thursday morning), our continuous surveillance team, which was formed in synergy with other sister agents, yielded a result, as the suspect was apprehended, while going out from this building with a Siena vehicle loaded with drugs”.
Speaking further, he said, “So, we’re here to tell the world that we’ve seen him; he has been apprehended now, and the process of taking the samples of those drugs for laboratory evaluation against him will take place.
“From there, everything scientific to prove what we saw will be proven in court, because we’re a scientific organisation.
“Recall that we picked samples of those products, and they were kept safely in our office, and now we’re taking those samples, and we’ll give him one sample, send another one to the lab, and then keep one as an exhibit for us in case he wants to contest the laboratory result.
“We’re a scientific organisation that deals with scientific evaluations. We’ll sample, and he’ll see his products”.
Meanwhile, the suspect confirmed to journalists that he owns the buildings, makes use of them as warehouses for the drugs he deals on, which he insisted were foreign drugs and not expired drugs, as said by NAFDAC.
Onwukwe, equally denied having knowledge that his buildings were sealed after the February 11, 2025 raid, by NAFDAC, hence the decision by his wife to rent the spaces to tenants.
Speaking on why he did not submit himself to the authorities, Onwukwe said that he has been sick for over 3-months.
“I have been sick, but my people have been going to their office. My wife and my in-laws have been going to the Area Command, as well as NAFDAC’s offices in Enugu and Asaba. I’ve been sick. I just recovered one week ago; I really wanted to go to them, but I was sick”.
He, however, said that he never knew that one of his boys, whom he settled after his apprenticeship and who was still staying with him prior to the raid and subsequently, his arrest by the police, was using his house to revalidate expired drugs.
Nwamaka Chidiebere, wife of the suspect, confirmed that she was at home when the joint team came to the house back in February 2025 and said that she was not aware that the building was sealed.
“I was the one that rented the apartment to the tenants, because I’ve been looking for my husband for some months, and I didn’t see him. So, I had no option other than to rent the vacant spaces out to tenants”.
When asked if she was aware that fake and expired drugs were discovered in the buildings, she said, “I am aware that the security people came here, because I was here, but I am not into the business with him, because he said he doesn’t want me in his business. I only know that he deals in foreign drugs, US drugs to be precise.
“I am a civil servant, so I don’t know anything about my husband’s business. I wrote a statement on this matter with the police, and I stand by what I wrote”.
Lawrence Nwankwo, an engineer, and one of the tenants said that he moved into the building in June 2025 and was never aware that the building was sealed and under the surveillance of NAFDAC.
“I was not aware of anything. I was not residing around this area. I was only looking for a house, and I was told that there’s space in this place. I made all payments to the landlady of this place”.
Chioma Innocent, another tenant, occupying the bungalow, a part of Onwukwe’s houses, also said that she was never aware that the building she paid for was sealed by NAFDAC.
“I rented this place this July 2025 from Port Harcourt. I paid our landlord’s wife.
“It was my mother-in-law that found this house for me, and I paid. I was not told anything. I have been seeing the landlord here since I moved in”, she said.
Between February 9 and March 27, 2025, NAFDAC conducted a raid operation to remove unregistered, expired, banned, diverted donation drugs, substandard, falsified, and illicit narcotics and controlled substances from Idumota in, Lagos State, Onitsha in Anambra State and Aba in Abia State, the 3-major Open Drug Markets in the country.
