Again, NAFDAC shuts down Aba market for fake, substandard wine and beverages

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in a decisive move to curb the circulation of fake and substandard wine and beverages in Nigeria, has for the second time in 2 years shut down the Aba market and confiscated fake food and beverages worth over N5 billion.

The current action of NAFDAC, the most audacious since the history of the market, was carried out in conjunction with the military, DSS and Nigeria Police, and following a similar raid that was carried out in December 2023.

NAFDAC’s Director General, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, in a press release, said the activities of the counterfeiters included the manufacturing of all kinds of adulterated products, especially alcoholic beverages of different brands.

According to her, the extensive operation involved over 240 shops turned factories where these fake and substandard wines and beverages were being produced and marketed under very filthy conditions, using water from unhygienic sources, harmful chemicals, saccharin, colouring, dirty recycled bottles, and cloned packaging materials of other brands.

“Over 1500 cartons of fake and substandard products were destroyed during the operation. The street value of the confiscated and destroyed fake products in 2023 is estimated at over seven hundred and fifty million naira only. (N750,000,000). The estimated value of products mopped up during the December 15, 2024, operation is five billion naira. The products being revalidated and mopped up include adulterated versions of popular brands of soft and carbonated drinks, yoghurt drinks, sachet milk, and chocolate drinks,” she added.

Read Also: Gani Adams rejects Sharia Law in Southwest

Professor Adeyeye also appreciated the mayor of Aba South, the interim management committee of the market, and the Abia state government’s support for the exercise, tagged “Operation Clean Up Aba,” which also led to another discovery of three major warehouses stockpiling expired HOLLANDIA YOGHURT for revalidation on the 22nd of January 2025.

She, however, assured the public of NAFDAC’s determination to safeguard the health of the nation and asked that the general public report any suspected fake and substandard regulated product to the nearest NAFDAC office.