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FG seizes tobacco products without health graphics in Kano

By Murtala Adewale, Kano
17 November 2022   |   2:52 pm
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has confiscated a large sum of uncertified Tabacco products during an enforcement raid in Kano. The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) had said no fewer than 28,000 Nigerians died annually from health complications from Tobacco consumption. In joint operations with the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), the…

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has confiscated a large sum of uncertified Tabacco products during an enforcement raid in Kano.

The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) had said no fewer than 28,000 Nigerians died annually from health complications from Tobacco consumption.

In joint operations with the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), the federal consumer protection agency stormed several tobacco stores, supermarkets, and business points and also used the occasion to enlighten sellers on the law guiding the sales of Tobacco products without the graphics warning.

The programme officer of NTCA, Chibuike Nwokorie, who spoke with journalists after the enforcement, said FCCPC is part of World Health Organization (WHO), framework to prevent deadly impact of Tobacco consumption.

He explained that the agency is leading the implementation and enforcement of the law in line with the National Tobacco Act 2015 to safe guide the health economy of the nation.

“In 2015, the National Tobacco Act was passed and signed into law, since then, the enforcement commenced in Abuja and Lagos, and now it arrived in Kano for enforcement.

“While on the field for enforcement in Kano, a lot of cigarettes are being sold without the graphics health warning, this shows that the Tobacco Industries are deceiving Nigerians by making sure they comply with the law only in Abuja while in other states they are still having businesses as usual.

“Unfortunately, most of the products we saw in the field in kano are that most of the products are not complying, they are still selling products that are illegal based on Nigerian law.

“Let us obey the law in Nigeria as we do in other countries, no reason it won’t work in Nigeria, the country has gazetted the NTC Act in December 2019.”

He said locally, the National Tobacco Act (NTC Act) was enacted in Nigeria to regulate the manufacture, importation, distribution, and use of tobacco in the country to reduce the negative effects of tobacco on public health.

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