Workers from the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) took to the streets on Tuesday, staging a protest at the Lagos office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in Isolo.
The demonstrators displayed placards with messages like ‘Let poor Nigerians breathe’ and ‘Let beverage workers breathe’, expressing their discontent with NAFDAC’s enforcement of the ban on alcoholic beverages in sachets and glass bottles of 200ml and below, which was initiated on February 1, 2024.
NAFDAC’s Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, asserted that no such beverages had been registered with the agency. Subsequently, on February 13, 2024, members of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), issued a 14-day ultimatum to NAFDAC to reverse the ban on sachet alcohol during a protest held at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
The association members warned of escalating protests at NAFDAC offices nationwide if their demands were not addressed.
