Scores of consumer rights advocates on Monday stormed the Lagos zonal office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to protest the agency’s impending enforcement of a ban on sachet-packaged alcoholic drinks.
The demonstration, organised by the Coalition for the Protection of Consumers’ Rights and led by activist Olufemi Lawson, came in direct response to recent public statements by NAFDAC Director-General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, announcing the start of strict enforcement actions against manufacturers, distributors and sellers of sachet alcohol products.
Speaking to journalists and chanting protesters outside the agency’s premises, Lawson condemned the planned crackdown as “draconian, economically insensitive and poorly thought out”, accusing NAFDAC of undermining the Federal Government’s own agenda to fight unemployment and alleviate economic hardship.
“The products currently on the market were duly tested, registered and approved by NAFDAC itself,” Lawson argued. “Why are the same products now suddenly being branded as dangerous and targeted for elimination?”
He further insisted that the real issue of underage access to alcohol stems from “regulatory and enforcement failure at the retail level”, not from the existence of the product.
“These sachets carry clear warnings: ‘Not for sale to persons under 18’. If children are still getting hold of them, then the problem lies with shop owners and street vendors, not the manufacturers,” he said.
The coalition also pushed back against two of NAFDAC’s frequently cited justifications for the ban:
High alcohol content : They maintained that licensed Nigerian distilleries produce sachet alcohol within internationally accepted alcohol-by-volume (ABV) limits.
Environmental pollution : Protesters pointed out that plastic sachets are already widely used for potable water, detergents, milk and other everyday consumer goods without similar prohibition.
Carrying placards reading “Suspend the Sachet Alcohol Ban”, “Save Jobs, Save Livelihoods”, “Regulation, Not Prohibition” and “NAFDAC: Be Fair!”, demonstrators warned that full enforcement would trigger massive job losses across the entire value chain from factory workers and distillery staff to distributors, truck drivers, wholesalers and thousands of small-scale retailers who depend on sachet alcohol for daily income.
Among their key demands, the coalition called for:
Immediate suspension of all enforcement actions
Reopening of factories and warehouses that have already been sealed
Urgent stakeholder engagement and dialogue to craft evidence-based, inclusive regulations rather than outright prohibition
The group appealed directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly to intervene, cautioning that continued silence from the authorities could spark coordinated nationwide demonstrations across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
NAFDAC officials present at the Lagos office did not engage with the protesters or address the media at the scene. As of the time of this report, the agency had not released any official statement responding to the demonstration.
The protest highlights deepening tensions between public health regulators and industry stakeholders over how best to address alcohol-related harms especially among young people without inflicting severe economic damage on an already struggling informal sector.
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