The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it sealed 18 warehouses in Bida following the discovery of large quantities of expired food and beverage products.
In a statement, the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Mr. Olusayo Akintola, said the warehouses were located around Ndazabo White House along Minna Road, behind Bida Modern Market in Niger State.
Akintola said the warehouses were shut after NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement team acted on credible intelligence.
He stated that items recovered during the raid included expired non-alcoholic beverages, dairy milk, candies, bottled water, and pasta valued at N100 million.
He added that some of the items had already been packaged for distribution, including 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.
The statement noted that additional expired products were uncovered during the operation and that the managers of the affected warehouses were arrested for questioning.
Akintola said preliminary findings linked the facilities to a company identified as BY Ventures, prompting NAFDAC officials to extend the operation to supermarkets owned by the same company in Minna.
He further stated that additional expired products and counterfeit Goya oil were allegedly found, and that the supermarkets involved in the sales were also sealed.
According to Akintola, the Managing Director of the company, Yusuf Nadabo, was invited for further questioning and admitted ownership of the expired products during interrogation.
He, however, said the NAFDAC investigation is ongoing and that appropriate regulatory sanctions will be imposed at the conclusion of the exercise to serve as a deterrent to others.
