Banned sachet alcohol: NAFDAC uncovers hidden factories, fresh production

…Enforcement turns violent; officer escapes stabbing

…Manufacturers moved machines, removed signposts to evade arrest

By Chioma Obinna

Despite the Federal Government’s ban on the production, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Tuesday uncovered what it described as fresh illegal production by manufacturers operating from concealed facilities, alleging that some companies relocated production lines, removed their signboards to evade detection and violently attacked enforcement officers during nationwide raids.

Briefing journalists in Lagos, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, disclosed that enforcement teams recovered banned 100ml PET bottles and rolls of sachet packaging materials bearing production dates as recent as July 23, 2026, which she said proved that some manufacturers were still producing the prohibited products after the ban had fully taken effect.

Describing the development as a “deliberate, calculated defiance” of Federal Government regulations, Adeyeye warned that manufacturers, distributors and retailers still dealing in the banned products would face tougher sanctions, while anyone who assaulted or obstructed NAFDAC officials would be prosecuted.

“What we found at the manufacturing level speaks to the depth of defiance we are dealing with. In multiple cases, those factories were found to be still actively producing in direct violation of the ban. These were not leftover stock.

“We recovered banned 100ml PET bottles and rolls of packaging film for sachet alcohol, some bearing production dates as recent as July 23, 2026.

“These manufacturers were producing banned products this very month, just last week, even after the ban had taken full effect and after NAFDAC had already engaged them. This is not a misunderstanding. This is deliberate, calculated defiance of federal regulation.”

The NAFDAC boss alleged that some manufacturers had gone beyond violating the ban by relocating production equipment to unregistered locations in a bid to evade regulators.

According to her, intelligence gathered during the operation showed that some companies dismantled production lines from registered factories and moved them to clandestine sites where they continued manufacturing the banned alcoholic beverages.

“In several cases, manufacturers relocated their production machines to unregistered premises to continue production underground, out of regulatory sight.

“They moved equipment under cover, set up clandestine operations and continued to flood the market with the banned products.”

She further disclosed that some operators removed company signposts and nameplates from their premises to disguise their identities and frustrate enforcement efforts.

“A manufacturer who removes his own signpost to hide from the regulator is not acting in good faith. That is the conduct of an operator who knows he is breaking the law and is taking active steps to evade accountability.”

Adeyeye also revealed that the enforcement exercise turned violent in some locations, with NAFDAC officials coming under physical attack while carrying out their lawful duties.

According to her, one enforcement officer narrowly escaped being stabbed after a weapon was drawn against him during a raid, while another officer was physically assaulted.

“One of our officers was nearly stabbed. A weapon was drawn against him during a lawful enforcement operation. Only by providence was he not seriously harmed or killed.

“Another officer was slapped and pushed while carrying out the work this Agency sent him to do.”

She described the attacks as criminal acts against the Nigerian state and vowed that those responsible would face the full weight of the law.

“An attack on a NAFDAC officer carrying out lawful regulatory duty is an attack on the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It is a criminal act. It will be investigated. It will be prosecuted. It will not deter this Agency from carrying out its mandate.”

Adeyeye maintained that the agency would sustain the nationwide mop-up operation until all sachet alcohol and alcoholic beverages packaged in PET bottles below 200ml were removed from circulation.

“The ban on sub-200ml sachet and PET-bottle alcohol is not negotiable. The mop-up operation is not a one-off exercise.

“Manufacturers found still producing will have their facilities shut down. Products found in the market will be seized and destroyed. Distributors and retailers found handling these products will face sanctions.”

She appealed to Nigerians not to purchase the banned products and urged members of the public to report manufacturers, distributors and retailers still violating the directive.

The NAFDAC DG stressed that the ban followed years of consultations and repeated extensions granted to manufacturers before enforcement eventually commenced.

She recalled that the Federal Government initially granted producers a five-year moratorium in 2018 to adjust their operations, which was later extended by another year after appeals from industry players.

“If six years is not enough to plan for a new business model, I don’t know whether 20 years will be enough,” she said.

Defending the policy, Adeyeye insisted the objective was not to prohibit alcohol consumption but to curb underage drinking and reduce alcohol abuse among children and adolescents.

“We are not against alcohol. We are against easy access to alcohol by children. When a child starts drinking alcohol at the age of five or nine, Nigeria’s future is at risk. A child’s liver is not that of an adult, and the health consequences can be lifelong.”

She added that studies available to the agency showed increasing alcohol consumption among children, with evidence indicating that some children as young as nine years were already consuming alcoholic beverages.

“The protection of Nigerian children is not negotiable. NAFDAC will continue this mop-up until the last sachet of banned alcohol is removed from Nigerian streets,” she said.