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Uncovers secret factories, alleges assault on officials
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered widespread defiance of the Federal Government’s ban on alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets and plastic bottles below 200 ml, exposing clandestine factories, fresh production lines and violent attacks on its enforcement officers during a nationwide mop-up operation.
The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said on Tuesday that the agency’s enforcement teams discovered several manufacturers were still producing the banned alcoholic products despite the expiration of the government’s moratorium and repeated warnings.
She described the violations as “deliberate, calculated defiance” of federal regulations, warning that all offenders would face the full weight of the law.
According to Adeyeye, the nationwide enforcement exercise, carried out across Lagos, Ogun and several other states, targeted manufacturers, distributors and retailers still involved in the production, movement and sale of sachet alcohol and alcoholic beverages packaged in PET bottles below 200ml.
She said investigations revealed that some manufacturers had continued production in secret, relocating equipment to unregistered facilities and removing company signboards to evade detection by regulators.
“Our teams revisited factories whose products were traced to markets where banned products were still circulating. In multiple cases, those factories were found to be actively producing in direct violation of the ban. These were not leftover stocks,” she said.
The NAFDAC boss disclosed that enforcement officers recovered large quantities of banned 100ml PET bottles and rolls of packaging materials for sachet alcohol bearing production dates as recent as July 23, 2026, indicating that illegal production continued even after the ban had taken effect.
She said some factories were found with finished products stacked inside production facilities alongside newly manufactured 100ml bottles positioned close to production lines.
“The packaging materials dated July 23 show these manufacturers were producing banned products only days before our operation. This is not a misunderstanding; it is deliberate, calculated defiance of federal regulation,” Adeyeye said.
She explained that the ban followed Senate resolutions directing NAFDAC not to extend the moratorium on sachet alcohol and small-volume alcoholic beverages, while also mandating the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to support enforcement and implement the National Alcohol Policy prohibiting such products.
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The policy, she noted, was signed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, on July 2, 2026, following earlier nationwide sensitisation campaigns by NAFDAC, the National Orientation Agency and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Adeyeye said the ban became necessary because the products are cheap, portable, easily concealed and widely accessible to children and adolescents, contributing to rising cases of underage drinking, substance abuse, addiction and alcohol-related illnesses.
She also condemned violent attacks on NAFDAC officials during the enforcement exercise in Lagos, revealing that one officer narrowly escaped being stabbed, while another was slapped and physically assaulted while carrying out lawful duties.
“These are public servants enforcing a Federal Government directive to protect Nigerian children. They were met with violence, weapons and assault by people whose interest is profit from a banned product,” she said.
Describing the attacks as criminal acts against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Adeyeye vowed that those responsible would be identified and prosecuted.
“No commercial interest, manufacturer, distributor, market association or individual has the right to obstruct, threaten or assault public officers enforcing the law. Their actions are documented, their locations are known and the full weight of the law is coming,” she declared.
She maintained that the ban on sachet alcohol and sub-200ml PET-bottle alcoholic beverages remained non-negotiable, stressing that the ongoing mop-up exercise would continue until every banned product was removed from the Nigerian market.
Adeyeye warned that factories found producing the prohibited products would be shut down, while distributors and retailers caught handling them would face sanctions.
She appealed to Nigerians to stop buying the banned products, prevent their sale in neighbourhoods and motor parks, and report manufacturers, distributors and retailers still engaged in their production or sale.
“NAFDAC will continue this mop-up until the last sachet of banned alcohol is removed from Nigerian streets. We will continue to shut down non-compliant factories, pursue those who attempt to evade us and protect the health of Nigerians, especially our children,” she said.
