Mojisola Adeyeye, director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), says she has received reports of children caught with sachet alcohol.

Earlier this month, NAFDAC announced a ban on the production of alcohol in sachets and pet bottles of less than 200ml.

Kazeem Adeniran, NAFDAC assistant chief regulation officer, investigation and enforcement, said the ban was in line with the agreement reached by a tripartite committee set up in 2018 by the federal ministry of health.

Speaking on Wednesday during an Arise Television interview, Adeyeye said the agency is banning alcohol in sachets, or in less than 200ml PET bottles, because these packages can be easily concealed.

“I want us to think of children in primary and secondary schools drinking alcohol in a sachet or less than 200ml PET bottles,” she said.

“Beer has four to eight percent alcohol but the alcohol content in these sachets is 30 percent which is six to seven times the alcohol content in beer. We did not ban alcohol in bigger containers and we are not against trade.

“Sachet alcohol is harmful because it can be easily concealed. Imagine a primary school child concealing a sachet in the pocket. I was talking with a school principal some days ago and he said they usually seize those sachet packages from children.

“He said sometimes a child may consume up to seven during school hours. It has been documented by agencies that children who take alcohol at a young age will most likely end up abusing substances.”

The director-general said NAFDAC is carrying out the ban of sachet alcohol as the implementing agency under the ministry of health, in conjunction with the ministry of trade.

“The Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and the distillers association went to the ministry of health in 2018 to complain that we are planning to ban alcohol in sachets and we had several meetings,” she added.

“At the end of it all, there was a document that was generated and an agreement signed by AFBTE and the distillers association that we should consider that they have machinery and people producing these products.

“They said we should give them time. They signed an agreement for a five-year phase-out.”

BAN WILL ERODE INVESTORS’ CONFIDENCE

The Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) has faulted the ban on alcoholic beverages in sachets and PET bottles.

Speaking when the association picketed the headquarters of NAFDAC in Abuja on Tuesday, Oyibo Jimoh, its national president, said “the ban will erode investors’ confidence in our economy”.

“This should not be added to the hydra-headed challenges that our economy is facing already,” he said.

“Our association considers the NAFDAC action as a willful and deliberate economic sabotage, as the implementation is coming at a time when the economy is on a downward spiral.

“Workers in these companies pay various forms of taxes to the government at different levels, while the companies in the sector also contribute significantly to the economy through job creation and taxes.

“The sector is a chain from the producer to the major marketers, distributors, and retailers.

“The impact on the families of millions of Nigerians who are dependent on these workers is indescribable.”