By Mike Adeyemi
The Kwara State Association of Table Water Producers of Nigeria has confirmed the closure of 25 sachet water factories by the officials of National Agency For Food, Drugs Administration and Control(NAFDAC) in the state.
Speaking on this development, the state chairman, Alh. Yahaya Kayode stated this on Tuesday while answering questions from our reporter through phone call.
According to him,’ it is true that the NAFDAC sealed off some factories across the state as a result of irregularities.’
โYes, the agency in its usual routine inspection clampdown on those factories that are operating illegally. They are not a registered members.
“National Agency For Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), is statutorily saddled to regulate our operation hence exactly what they have done. Those affected are not known by our association, only four of them are our members,”
The enforcement team of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Monday sealed 25 water-producing factories in Kwara State.
The Kwara Coordinator of NAFDAC, Azikiwe Kenneth, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, in Ilorin.
He explained that the agency had shut down five illegal packaged water manufacturing factories operating without the agency’s approval and that some arrests had been made.
Kenneth disclosed that the suspects were caught in the act and confessed that they had been operating without NAFDAC registration numbers before production.
He also noted that one of the suspects was manufacturing packaged water in his apartment
The coordinator said that an additional 20 registered packaged water manufacturing factories were sealed for failing to meet the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements of producing quality standards.
Azikiwe stated that everybody involved will be sanctioned in line with the NAFDAC regulations and according to the country’s law.
โI wish to call on the good people of the state to always look out for the NAFDAC registration number on the sachet and bottled water, batch information, and date markings.
โThis is to avoid falling victim to the nefarious activities of these bad elements. Also, this caution applies to all NAFDAC registration products,โ the NAFDAC coordinator added.
The NAFDAC official appealed to people to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the Kwara State office of the agency.
