Employees of distilling companies have vowed to lay siege to the Lagos office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday in protest at the federal government’s nationwide enforcement of a ban on sachet alcohol and small-volume PET bottles.
A notice circulated to the media by the Distillers and Blenders Association of Nigeria (DIBAN) invited coverage of the demonstration, scheduled for 8.30am at the agency’s Oshodi office. The protest will be the eighth staged by distillers this year, underscoring the depth of industry anger.
The trade groups have repeatedly warned that the prohibition could cost up to five million jobs, arguing that thousands of small-scale distributors and retailers depend on the sale of low-cost sachet spirits.
On Tuesday, however, the federal government formally launched a nationwide enforcement and public enlightenment campaign on the ban, which took effect on 1 January 2026. The Abuja press conference was convened by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in collaboration with NAFDAC and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
The measure targets the production, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and in PET or glass bottles smaller than 200ml, in what officials describe as a public health intervention aimed at curbing underage drinking and harmful consumption patterns.
NAFDAC’s director-general, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said enforcement followed years of consultations, extensions and survey findings that painted a troubling picture of youth alcohol use.
“We are here to ensure that the ban on sachet alcohol and alcohol in small bottles less than 200ml remains banned,” she said. “The availability and easy access to alcohol have been identified as a contributory factor to increasing consumption among minors.”
Adeyeye traced the origins of the policy to 2018, when industry groups challenged the regulator’s attempts to reduce the high alcohol concentration in sachet products, some of which contained up to 50% alcohol by volume — far stronger than beer, which typically ranges between 6% and 8%.
At the time, she said, the then health minister, Prof Isaac Adewole, granted a five-year moratorium to allow manufacturers to restructure. That grace period expired in February 2024, after which NAFDAC moved to begin enforcement in line with its statutory mandate. Further delays followed, including an additional one-year extension granted in December 2024 by the current health minister, Prof Muhammad Pate, before the Senate directed the agency to proceed with full enforcement.
Central to the renewed crackdown, Adeyeye said, were findings from national surveys on youth drinking. According to the data cited by the agency, 54.3% of minors and underage individuals obtain alcohol themselves, with nearly half purchasing sachet or small-bottle products from retailers. Around half of respondents reported alcohol consumption among children, some as young as nine.
Of those who procure alcohol independently, nearly half favour sachets because they are inexpensive and easy to conceal, the survey found.
Health officials warned that early exposure to alcohol increases the risk of long-term dependency and other harms. Youths who begin drinking before the age of 15 are 41% more likely to develop alcohol dependence, Adeyeye said, adding that underage drinking has been linked to broader social problems.
“In our country, it is responsible for banditry. It is responsible for kidnapping,” she said. “You cannot be in your right mind and point a gun at somebody. It starts with alcohol and then goes on to hard drugs.”
The NOA’s director-general, Lanre Issa-Onilu, described the campaign as a “united stand” for consumer protection, arguing that sachet alcohol had become “dangerously accessible” in rural and semi-urban communities.
“When affordability meets vulnerability, the consequences are profound,” he said, pledging to deploy the agency’s network of 818 offices across 774 local government areas to drive compliance and awareness.
For the distillers preparing to protest in Lagos, however, the issue remains one of economic survival. As enforcement intensifies, the confrontation between public health regulators and an embattled industry appears set to deepen.
