The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed 38 sachet water production outlets in Sokoto State for contravening various production laws.

The Sokoto state coordinator for NAFDAC, Garba Adamu, said the exercise was part of the routine operation of the agency aimed at safeguarding the quality and sanity of products being consumed by people.

He said the inspection exercise began on August 19, and that officials covered all the sachet water production outlets to ensure strict compliance with statutory regulations.

“The 38 sealed outlets had poor hygiene, low-quality production, illegal production and other offences.

“We received complaints daily on the poor quality of sachet water and prevalence of outbreaks of water-related diseases, that is why we swung into action.

“Our aim is to ensure maintenance of good manufacturing process. So, most of the outlets have been put on hold for them to come to the office and obtain requisite practice procedures as they were registered,” Mr Adamu said.

The coordinator urged the people to carefully check the sachet water they drink to ensure that there are no substances, adding that they should report any form of impurity or suspected adulteration for appropriate actions.

He said that no fewer than 300 sachet water – popularly called “pure water” – production outlets were registered in the 23 local government areas in the state.

Mr Adamu said that the sealed outlets would be sanctioned in line with NAFDAC laws for them to properly register and obtain their licence.

“The important thing is to immediately shut down the facilities to prevent further spread of the produced sachet water as safeguarding public health is a priority,” he said.

Mr Adamu assured of the agency’s commitment to safeguarding people’s lives and asked for the cooperation of the public for the continuation of the exercise in the state. 

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) listed Sokoto as one of the states with suspected cases of Cholera between January and August.