Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga has called for the death penalty for counterfeiters following the discovery of a suspected fake alcohol production facility in Aba, Abia State.
Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, made the call on Wednesday while reacting to a report by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on the raid.
He argued that counterfeiters would not stop their activities without severe punishment.
NAFDAC said its officials raided the facility at No. 25 Omenazu Street, Aba, following credible intelligence and found it operating under unhygienic conditions.
The agency said the suspected operator fled on the arrival of its officials, abandoning a vehicle containing packaging materials bearing the names of Sir Edwards Scotch Whisky and Scottish Hills Whisky, empty bottles and a drum containing about 200 litres of liquid.
Other items recovered inside the facility included bottle caps, sealing machines, cartons, tanks containing liquid mixtures, dirty sieves, plastic buckets and 200-litre drums of ethanol. Officials also found tree bark soaked in ethanol.
NAFDAC valued the equipment, materials and facility components at more than ₦500m, warning that the findings raised serious concerns about the safety and quality of the products.
The raid comes amid an intensified crackdown on counterfeit and substandard goods. NAFDAC recently said it seized and destroyed fake and unwholesome products worth more than ₦5.3bn within a week.
The agency also reported a raid at the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, where it seized products valued at over ₦2bn and arrested two suspects.
The House of Representatives has called for stronger measures against fake and substandard food products following previous operations targeting alcohol-counterfeiting syndicates in Lagos and an illegal juice factory in Badagry.
Under Nigeria’s Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, offenders face a fine of up to ₦500,000, imprisonment for between five and 15 years, or both. The law does not prescribe the death penalty for such offences.
NAFDAC urged members of the public to report suspected illegal manufacturing activities through its call centre on 0800-1-623322 or 0700-1-623322, or by email at reforms@nafdac.gov.ng.
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