- Safiu Kehinde
Nigerian Social Media Influencer, Martin Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has called out the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, over alleged extortion of pharmaceutical store owners.
VDM, in a video shared on X on Monday, recounted how the agency allegedly demanded N700,000 from owners of drug stores locked in Onitsha over alleged sales of fake drugs.
The payment, as seen in transaction alert shared by the activist, was allegedly to the Central Bank of Nigeria with the description “NAFDAC Project”.
Labelling the agency as “extortionist” and “thieves” VDM calls for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) Intervention.
“To the DG of NAFDAC, Professor Moji Christiana Adeyeye, it is possible you might be the next person to kidnap me because you know Nigeria now, if you talk, they kidnap you.
“But Madam with what is happening now in your office, I can’t keep quiet. You people have turned extortionists and criminals in this our Nigeria.
“And I expect well meaning Nigerians to also put mouth in this matter.
“Because very soon, if una dey keep quiet, you go buy Panadol for N15,000. I promise you.
“NAFDAC has turned extortionists and thieves overnight and I don’t know why.
“If you want to generate money for the government, we have oil and lots of mineral resources. Go and bring them out and use it to make money. Why are you people extorting these traders?
“You people have become thieves and after this video now, we go wrote petition to the EFCC.
“I wanted to engineer them that we should break all the padlocks wey NAFDAC don put. But that’s taking laws into our hands.
“So give it to the EFCC to investigate this thiefry and extortion that is going on in Ogbogbu market in Onitsha.”
“You are currently collecting N700,000 per shop in Ogbogbu market where they sell medicine.
“They shops there are over 5,000. So, you are expected to make over N3.5 billion of you collect from everybody.” He said.
The activist further warned of the inflation of drug prices on account of the alleged extortion.
“We are not going to let you people do that because it is extortion. Your claim is not valid enough.
“You said you caught some people selling fake drugs. You decided to lock all the market.
“Then you came back again to say if you want us to open your market, you will pay N700,000.
“Does that make sense? And we get President and enforcers for this country?
“Na like this una wan start to dey generate money for government by extorting everybody? We get oil; we get other natural resources. We cannot keep quiet for this.
“Because if we keep quiet, prices of drugs will go up. It may not affect VeryDarkMan. I can afford to buy drugs for myself and my family.
“But how about those innocent people wey dem dey village? People we never even get borehole to drink water? How dem wan take afford these medicines? How?
“This medicine price will increase once these men pay finish because they also want to.make their money back.
“N700,000 for no reason. It doesn’t make any sense.” VDM said.
He also disclosed that similar extortion was reported in Lagos where owners of shops locked by NAFDAC were also demanded to pay the amount to the same account.
“Now I did further investigation. I say make I even check the account wey dem dey send this money to.
“The title of the account is NAFDAC Project. Central Bank is the bank. I said wait why did they give it NAFDAC Project? I did further investigation and I found out that even in Lagos State, they did the same thing same place where these Igbos dey sell these drugs. NAFDAC went to shut it down, same pattern again.” He said.