Leadnaija
Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has criticized Labour Party chieftain Peter Obi following his appeal to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to reopen the closed Onitsha Market.
According to Omokri, the closure of the market, even for seven days, would not lead to the death of traders operating there.
His comment comes after the former Anambra State governor urged NAFDAC to immediately reopen unaffected markets in the Head Bridge Market area, which had been shut down by regulatory and security agencies due to suspected illegal drug trading in one of its sections, Ogbo Ogwu Market.
While Obi strongly condemned the sale of illicit and counterfeit drugs, he criticized the blanket closure of neighboring markets that had no involvement in the illegal trade.
Obi, in a post on his X handle, highlighted that several markets—including Rod, Allied and Tools, Plumbing Materials, Timber, Surgical, and Provision Markets—were unfairly affected by the shutdown despite having no direct link to the alleged drug activities.
“The continued closure of these markets is unjustified and is causing severe economic hardship for thousands of traders and their families, especially during this difficult time in our country,” Obi stated.
In response, Omokri questioned why Obi had never criticized the Monday sit-at-home enforcement that forced the closure of Onitsha Market by the terror group IPOB. In his post on X, he argued that the entire market had become a crime scene.
Read his post below
Why did Peter Obi not complain about the Monday sit-at-home forced closure of the Onitsha Market? He has no problem when a terror group like IPOB closes a market. But he has issues when NAFDAC shuts it down temporarily because of the activities of fake drug manufacturers and traders?
If I were Peter Obi, instead of advocating for the reopening of the Onitsha Market that hosts the fake drugs cartel, I would be more concerned about the tens of thousands of Nigerians who die annually from counterfeit drugs.
Who is going to reopen their lives? Who will reopen the door of joy that was shut on their family and friends? That Peter Obi is showing more sympathy for the Onitsha fake drug syndicate is telling.
The entire market is a crime scene. The authorities do not yet know the scope of the criminal activity. They do not know the full extent of collaboration between these groups and their fellow traders. That is why they have closed the venue for a week to conduct proper and thorough investigations.
Surely, a week is not too much time to ask for. Would the traders die if they do not go to the market for a week? For over four years, they have not been allowed to open that market every Monday.
Surely, a man who aspires to be Nigeria’s Commander-in-Chief should unconditionally and unequivocally side with our law enforcement agencies in the pursuit of their lawful duties. Alas, just as he defended IPOB as not being terrorists (they are terrorists, including Nnamdi Kanu and Simon Ekpa), Peter Obi is now defending those who are against the temporary closure of a crime scene.
Peter Obi’s actions should tell any objective person all they need to know about how life in Nigeria would be under an Obi presidency. We would have a leader who advocates for criminals rather than their victims
