NAFDAC Seals 18 Warehouses in Niger Over Expired Products
By Momodu Favour
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed 18 warehouses in Bida, Niger State, after uncovering large quantities of expired food and beverage products valued at about N100 million.
In a statement issued by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Mr. Olusayo Akintola, the affected warehouses were located around Ndazabo White House along Minna Road, behind the Bida Modern Market in Bida.
Akintola said the enforcement action followed credible intelligence received by NAFDAC, which prompted its Investigation and Enforcement Directorate to conduct a coordinated raid on the facilities.
According to him, items recovered during the operation included expired non-alcoholic beverages, dairy milk, candies, bottled water, pasta and other assorted food products.
Some of the goods had already been repackaged and readied for distribution to unsuspecting consumers.
He disclosed that the confiscated products comprised about 80,000 packets of expired non-alcoholic drinks, 5,000 packets of dairy milk, 16,000 packets of bottled water, and 28 cartons of pasta, among other expired items.
The agency said managers of the affected warehouses were arrested on the spot for interrogation as investigations commenced.
Preliminary findings, Akintola revealed, linked the warehouses to a company identified as BY Ventures.
This discovery led NAFDAC officials to extend their enforcement operation to supermarkets in Minna allegedly owned by the same company.
During the follow-up inspection, additional expired products and suspected counterfeit Goya oil were reportedly discovered in the supermarkets, which were subsequently sealed by the agency.
Akintola further stated that the Managing Director of the company, Alhaji Yusuf Nadabo, was invited for questioning and allegedly admitted ownership of the expired products during interrogation.
He, however, noted that investigations were still ongoing and assured that appropriate regulatory sanctions would be imposed at the conclusion of the exercise to deter others from engaging in similar unlawful practices.
NAFDAC reiterated its commitment to safeguarding public health and warned distributors and retailers against the sale or circulation of expired and counterfeit products, stressing that violators would face the full weight of the law.
