For the fifth time in 2026, distillers under the aegis of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association on Tuesday picketed the office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control to protest the continued sealing of their companies over the ban on sachet alcohol beverages and PET bottles below 200ml.
Employees of the companies, comprising both junior and senior staff, barricaded the entrance of the NAFDAC office along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
They also carried placards with inscriptions such as “Tinubu does not want jobs to be lost”, “Stop destroying local manufacturers”, and “NAFDAC should release products put on hold”, among others.
Gathering in large numbers, the protesters chanted solidarity songs as they prevented vehicles from entering the NAFDAC premises.
As of the time of filing this report, the protesters had yet to address the press.
Also, no staff member of NAFDAC had come out to address the protesters.
The protest is believed to stem from the ongoing debacle over the ban on sachet alcohol beverages and PET bottles below 200ml.
While the protesters had claimed that the Federal Government had ordered a halt to the enforcement, NAFDAC Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, said there was no official communication to that effect.
The protesters had, during one of their earlier demonstrations, threatened to take over the streets if the ban was not rescinded.
Details later…
Johnson Idowu
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