Kano patent medicine dealers protest relocation order with indefinite strike

Following court orders directing them to quickly relocate their operations to the Kano World Market, located at Dangwauro, on the outskirts of Kano city, members of the Nigerian Association of Patent and Propriety Medicine Dealers, NAPPMED, shut down operations on Saturday and embarked on an indefinite strike in Sabon Gari Market in Kano.

The medicine dealers said their action was to show their anger and disagreement over a court judgement that ordered them to relocate to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre in the Dangwauro area of the state.

DAILY POST recalls that a Federal High Court in Kano on Friday ordered members of NAPPMED to vacate the Malam Kato and Sabon Gari open markets and relocate to the coordinated wholesale centre in the Dangwauro area of the state.

The court subsequently dismissed their fundamental rights suit instituted by the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, seeking to reject the relocation.

The judgement finally put to rest more than five years of battle between the relevant authorities and the medicine dealers, who had resisted all attempts to relocate the pharmaceutical business from the open market.

However, on Saturday, the Kano State chairman of NAPPMED, Alhaji Musbau Yahaya Khalid, directed members of the association in Sabon Gari market to embark on the strike.

Khalid said the indefinite strike is a proactive measure to protect members of the association.

“The strike is to protect our members from harassment, as we were reliably informed that security agents would be used to displace us and to also show our displeasure over the court judgement,” Khalid said.

He said they are in discussion with their lawyers as they intend to appeal the judgement.

He clarified why they are reluctant to relocate their business to the Dangwauro area.

According to him, the place does not belong to them or the government but is rather a private entity, which poses a lot of danger to their business.

While emphasising that they are law-abiding people, he appealed to the government to allow them to continue their business from where they are presently, as relocating to the assigned area would lead to a loss of employment for many.