Workers in companies producing sachet alcoholic beverages have threatened to embark on a nationwide protest if the ban on sachet alcohol and PET bottles below 200 millilitres is not reversed.

The workers, alongside some civil society organisations (CSOs), staged another protest on Monday at the Lagos office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) along the Oshodi–Apapa Expressway, barely three days after a similar demonstration.

Operating under the aegis of the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) and the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), the protesters warned that the continued enforcement of the ban could lead to massive job losses affecting over five million Nigerians directly and indirectly.

NAFDAC had announced the prohibition of sachet alcohol beverages and small PET bottles, citing public health concerns. Following last Friday’s protest, the agency’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, held a meeting with leaders of the unions but maintained that the ban would remain in force pending legislative amendments.

At Monday’s protest, workers—joined by members of the Coalition for the Protection of Consumers’ Rights—carried placards and chanted solidarity songs, condemning what they described as the regulator’s “unilateral” action.

Speaking to journalists, the National President of FOBTOB, Mr. Oyibo Jimoh, said the unions were already engaging the House of Representatives to push for a comprehensive national alcohol policy that would accommodate the interests of all stakeholders rather than impose an outright ban.

Jimoh accused NAFDAC of disregarding ongoing policy discussions by sealing factories, a move he said contradicts the Federal Government’s broader economic and employment agenda. He also disputed claims by the NAFDAC Director-General regarding the alcohol content of sachet beverages, describing them as misleading.

He further alleged that labour unions were excluded from Senate deliberations that preceded the enforcement of the ban, insisting that the workers would continue to resist the policy until their concerns were addressed.

Similarly, the Head of Brewery and Tobacco Department at NUFBTE, Mr. Azeez Rasaq, warned that the union would not hesitate to mobilise a nationwide protest if the government failed to intervene.

According to him, organised labour bodies such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) would be compelled to act if millions of jobs were threatened.

“If the government continues to ignore us, a nationwide protest is inevitable,” Rasaq said.

Representing the CSOs, Mr. Declan Ihekaira argued that the ban disproportionately targets low-income earners and infringes on consumers’ rights. He added that civil society groups were ready to mobilise nationwide to ensure the reversal of the policy.

One of the affected workers, Mr. Biodun Adeyemi, said the ban posed a serious threat to his livelihood and that of his dependants, stressing that job losses would have far-reaching social consequences.

“If taking to the streets is the only way to get the attention of the authorities, we are prepared to do so,” he said.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Chairman of FOBTOB, Mr. Olamiye Somefun, said the unions’ next line of action would be to take their protest to the National Assembly in Abuja if their demands were ignored.

He questioned whether the continued enforcement of the ban aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s pledge to improve the welfare and living standards of Nigerians.