Viral Video: NAFDAC speaks on police demand for Reg Number from Zobo hawker

Police officers holding bottles of the Zobo drink

A viral video circulating on Facebook shows police officers in Delta State questioning a Zobo hawker about the absence of a National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) registration number on the drink.

In the video, one officer is seen shaking a bottle of the drink and asking whether it has a NAFDAC registration number.

“This is ordinary Zobo. I am a content creator, and I will put it on Facebook,” a man who came to the hawker’s aid said.

“Put it (on Facebook),” a police operative responded.

Another officer, holding the drink, said: “As far as I am concerned, this thing is supposed to have a NAFDAC number. Does this thing have a NAFDAC number? As a police officer, don’t I have the right to ask?”

The confrontation attracted onlookers who gathered around the scene.

Zobo is a popular Nigerian beverage made from the dried calyces of the hibiscus plant. It can be prepared on its own or flavoured with ingredients such as pineapple, ginger, garlic and other spices.

Bright Edafe, the police spokesperson in Delta, defended the officers, saying they were doing their duties.

Mr Edafe said he expected the press to condemn the content creator for chastising officers who were carrying out their responsibilities.

“The police officers are doing their jobs, but some carried cameras and asked police operatives why a drink should have a NAFDAC NUMBER,” he said.

He argued that products regulated by NAFDAC must comply with the agency’s requirements, questioning why anyone would challenge the need for a registration number on a consumable product.

He also cited the agency’s regulatory mandate, arguing that consumable products subject to NAFDAC regulation must meet the relevant requirements.

However, Christiana Obiazikwor, NAFDAC’s spokesperson, said the agency does not regulate Zobo sold in ordinary containers without packaging, sealing or labelling.

“If you produce Zobo without packaging it – putting a label, without sealing it. It is not under NAFDAC’s purview to regulate it. But when you now package, seal, and put a label, then it becomes under NAFDAC regulation. But if you just put ordinary Zobo in a container to sell, it is not under NAFDAC,” she said.

She compared the situation to cooking oil sold in open markets, explaining that it falls outside the agency’s regulatory mandate until it is packaged, sealed and labelled.

When briefed on the incident in Delta State, Ms Obiazikwor said: “It is supposed to have a NAFDAC number if it is packaged and labelled.”

A photograph of the drink shared on Facebook showed it in a labelled bottle.

NAFDAC’s clarification indicates that the product’s packaging and labelling are central to determining whether it falls under the agency’s regulatory requirements.