The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has commenced a nationwide enforcement operation to confiscate alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles below 200 millilitres.

The agency said the operation, which is taking place across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, targets the production, importation, distribution, sale and use of the prohibited alcoholic beverages.

According to NAFDAC, the enforcement exercise followed the closure of manufacturing facilities found to be violating the directive and is part of efforts to safeguard public health and curb the widespread availability of the banned products.

The agency said that its enforcement teams have been deployed to markets, motor parks, retail outlets, bars and other distribution channels to identify, seize and remove the prohibited alcoholic drinks from circulation.

NAFDAC warned manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, transporters and other stakeholders still in possession of the banned products to immediately surrender their remaining stock.

The agency stressed that continued production, distribution, sale or possession of the prohibited alcoholic beverages constitutes a violation of existing regulations and could result in seizure of products, regulatory sanctions and criminal prosecution.

It said the nationwide crackdown is intended to reduce underage drinking, harmful alcohol consumption and substance abuse, particularly among children and young people.

NAFDAC also urged members of the public to cooperate with the enforcement exercise by avoiding the purchase of banned alcoholic beverages and reporting anyone involved in their production, distribution or sale to the nearest NAFDAC office.

In November 2025, the Senate directed NAFDAC and other regulatory bodies to enforce without compromise the ban on the packaging of high-strength alcoholic beverages in sachet formats from December 2025.

The lawmakers also made it clear that no further extensions would be tolerated, warning that continued lobbying by manufacturers undermined Nigeria’s public health priorities and regulatory integrity.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Asuquo Ekpeyong on the need to halt any further extension of the phase-out of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachet formats.

He recalled that in 2018, stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), NAFDAC and industry groups such as the Association of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employers (AFBTE) and the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN), had voluntarily signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The agreement committed signatories to gradually phase out such products, citing growing health and social risks linked to their affordability, portability and accessibility, particularly among children, adolescents, commercial drivers and other vulnerable groups.

Despite that commitment, Senator Ekpeyong lamented that the Federal Government had already granted a one-year moratorium in 2024 to enable manufacturers to exhaust existing stock and transition to compliant packaging alternatives, extending the phase-out until December 2025.