The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control said its officials shut 10 unregistered bakeries and eight table water factories in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The agency said the move was meant to rid the state of fake and unwholesome products, saying the shutdown was done during an operation which lasted three days with the assistance of policemen.

This was contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Tuesday by NAFDAC’s Public Relations Officer, South-South Zone, Mr Cyril Monye.

Monye disclosed that some of the factories operated in an unhygienic environment, in addition to carrying the names of popular brands in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

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The statement read, “In an unprecedented move to rid Rivers State of fake and unwholesome products, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control stormed Bonny Island in Bonny Island, Local Government Area of Rivers State shutting down 10 substandard/unregistered bakeries and eight table water factories.

“A detachment of policemen from Finima and Bonny Divisional Headquarters provided assistance and security to NAFDAC officials during the three-day operation.”

Speaking during the operation, NAFDAC Director, South-South Zone, Chukwuma Oligbo, explained that the move became necessary following the agency’s painstaking investigations/surveillance and complaints by consumers from the Island concerning substandard bakeries and sachet/table water factories.

Oligbo stated, “It was discovered that some of the quack bakeries were producing in ramshackle facilities made with woods and rusty congregated iron sheets with inappropriate baking equipment while the workers were not properly kitted.

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“The loaves of bread were stored in a very unhygienic manner with flies perching on them. Some of the bakeries also bear the names of popular breads in Port Harcourt.”

“Most of the bakeries were not registered by NAFDAC and unregistrable because they cannot meet the minimum requirement for registration, while few that were registered by the agency have expired licenses or have relocated from their initial place of registration in Port Harcourt to Bonny Island without notifying the agency for formal documentation and mandatory inspections.”

He further said some of the table water factories which were mostly involved in the production of sachet water were not using filtration equipment and a facility that was in production of bottled and jar water was manually filling the jars with a locally improvised machine instead of an automated process, which is the acceptable standard recommended by NAFDAC.

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The Zonal Director urged those who are in default of their product license renewal to use the waiver provided by the Director General from January to March and renew their licenses, adding that NAFDAC is always ready to guide producers in doing the right thing.

He however said hard times await those who intentionally flouts NAFDAC regulations.

The three-day operation took NAFDAC to the length and breadth of Finima and Bonny, both in Bonny LGA, as Pharmacies and Supermarkets were also inspected where various violations were discovered ranging from unregistered products and unsafe storage of injections, the statement added.