The Lagos State chapter of Concerned Drink Sellers and Traders Across Nigeria has intensified its peaceful protest as the members demanded for a halt to the enforcement of the ban on sachet / PET bottle alcohol below 20cl by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Bewailing severe financial losses, confiscation of unsold inventory and sweeping product raids by supposed NAFDAC officials, the distressed members of the association, while marching on the streets of Lagos, according to a statement lamented that the enforcement has not only destroyed their capital but has left their petty trading in shambles in local markets and neighbourhood shops.
Stating that NAFDAC’s ongoing clampdown on their business has occasioned unprecedented livelihood disruption among them and their dependents, the visibly troubled retailers mentioned that affordable sachet drinks represent a crucial source of survival through daily cash flow for tens of thousands of Nigerian families, especially during times of severe economic hardship as currently faced by the masses.
While appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, members of the House of Representatives and NAFDAC, they insisted that the government’s aggressive mop-up operations rather than providing solutions have left thousands of their members stuck with unreturnable, unrecoverable goods.
