A heated confrontation between police officers and a Nigerian man over the demand for a National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) registration number on bottled zobo drinks has sparked reactions on social media.
The incident, captured in a viral video circulating on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, showed the officers questioning a woman selling bottled zobo and demanding to see the product’s registration number and labels.
One of the officers insisted that the locally made drink should have a NAFDAC number, prompting an argument with a man who challenged the officers’ actions.
“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 officer said.
However, the man, who identified himself as a content creator, questioned why the seller was being subjected to what he considered an unnecessary confrontation over the drink.
Speaking in Pidgin English, he accused the officers of spending too much time on the matter and suggested that their attention should be directed towards other duties.
“I be content creator, I go put am for social media. This na ordinary zobo. Una no dey do your work? Ordinary zobo. Over four hours, for what now?” he said.
The exchange grew tense as the man continued challenging the officers over their demand for the product’s registration details.
The video has since drawn attention to the responsibilities of law enforcement officers, the regulation of locally produced beverages and the challenges faced by small-scale traders.
NAFDAC RULES ON ZOBO DRINKS
Despite the man’s description of the product as ordinary zobo, NAFDAC lists zobo among beverages made from locally grown agricultural products that fall within its micro, small and medium-scale enterprise registration framework.
The agency’s published guidance also outlines requirements for registering eligible small-scale food products, including product labelling and other business and production documents.
This means that the fact that zobo is traditionally prepared from hibiscus flowers does not automatically exempt a commercially packaged product from applicable food-registration requirements.
However, the regulatory question is separate from whether the officers handled the encounter appropriately.
QUESTIONS OVER POLICE POWERS
The video has also raised questions about the respective roles of the police and NAFDAC in enforcing product-registration and food-safety rules.
NAFDAC is the agency responsible for regulating food products and overseeing their registration, while the circumstances under which police officers may demand documentation or intervene in a particular case depend on their legal authority and the facts of the encounter.
As of the reports reviewed, no official statement from the relevant police command or NAFDAC clarifying the specific incident was located.
The viral footage has therefore left key questions unanswered, including the location of the confrontation, whether the seller had registered the product and what prompted the officers to question her.
The incident comes amid wider concerns about the safety of beverages sold to consumers. Earlier in October, NAFDAC uncovered a suspected counterfeit-drinks operation at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos, where expired alcoholic drinks were allegedly being relabelled for sale. Two suspects were arrested during the operation.
While that case involved alleged counterfeiting and relabelling, it underscores the importance of product safety and proper regulatory oversight without establishing any wrongdoing by the zobo seller in the viral video.
