Justice Abdullah Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Kano State has granted an ex parte application restraining further action against patent medicine dealers in the state, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit brought before it.
The Sabon Gari medicine dealers had filed an application on enforcement of their fundamental human right over the seal of their premises in Sabon Gari and Mallam Kato area of the market by a team of security operatives, including the Army.
Under the auspices of the Nigerian Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers, the traders are challenging the deployment of security agencies by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) to take control of their goods and harass its members.
Although NAFDAC and PCN had secured a judgment of the court directing the medicine dealers to relocate from Sabon Gari market to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) in Dungurawa village, the traders insisted that harassment of its members was a violation of their fundamental rights.
When the matter came up for hearing, yesterday, counsel to NAFDAC, Datti Sunnono, and his counterpart from PCN, E.C. Mbadiwe, sought more time to properly file a response to the applicant’s motion.
They two respondents also drew the attention of the court to the subsisting judgment that ordered the applicants to relocate to the new centre provided by the Federal Government for easy regulation of the drug market in Kano.
But counsel to the applicants, Abdulazeez Adam, told the court that the respondents had no justification to needlessly drag the case beyond the ample period, after they were duly served.
Although Adam did not object to further adjournment, he pleaded with the court to grant his ex parte application to enable his clients to access their property.
In his ruling, Justice Liman directed all parties to maintain the status quo and adjourned the matter till April 16, 2024, for hearing on the fundamental human right suit.
