NAFDAC Seals 18 Warehouses With N100m Expired Food Products

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed no fewer than 18 warehouses in Bida, Niger State, following the discovery of large quantities of expired food and beverage products valued at over N100m.

NAFDAC said the warehouses are located around the Ndazabo White House along Minna Road and behind Bida Modern Market.

The agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akntola, who disclosed this on Thursday, said NAFDAC’s investigation and enforcement team acted on credible intelligence.

Akintola listed the items recovered during the raid to include expired non-alcoholic beverages, dairy milk, candies, bottled water and pasta. He added that some of them were already packaged for distribution.

The agency also noted that about 80,000 packets of expired non-alcoholic drinks, 5,000 packets of dairy milk, 16,000 packets of bottled water, 28 cartons of pasta and other assorted expired products were uncovered during the operation.

It also stated that managers of the affected warehouses were arrested for interrogation, during which preliminary findings linked the facilities to a company identified as BY Ventures.

According to NAFDAC, the development prompted its officials to extend their operation to supermarkets owned by the company in Minna, where additional expired products and counterfeit Goya oil were found.

NAFDAC noted that both supermarkets were subsequently sealed, while the Managing Director of the company, Alhaji Yusuf Nadabo, was invited for further questioning. According to NAFDAC, Nadabo admitted ownership of the expired products during interrogation.

It added that investigations are ongoing and that appropriate regulatory sanctions would be imposed at the conclusion of the process to serve as a deterrent to others.