Manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers across Nigeria have been directed to immediately withdraw consumer goods with incomplete, misleading or deceptive labels from the market.

The directive was contained in a public advisory issued by the commission’s management and shared on its official X account on Tuesday.

Market surveillance and routine inspections revealed,

FCCPC noted, an increasing number of products being sold without essential labelling information required by law.

The commission stated that some products were found with misleading claims, while others lacked production dates, expiry or best-before dates, batch numbers, manufacturer details, ingredient lists, allergen information, country of origin and other mandatory details.

“Market surveillance, routine inspections, and quality assurance activities have revealed products bearing misleading or deceptive information, as well as products without production dates, expiry or best-before dates, batch numbers, manufacturer details, ingredient lists, allergen information, country of origin, and other mandatory labelling information,” the FCCPC said.

The commission noted that it is empowered by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, to enforce compliance with product labelling standards in collaboration with regulatory agencies such as NAFDAC and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

It warned that deceptive or incomplete product labels violate consumers’ right to accurate information needed to make informed purchasing decisions and could expose them to health, safety and economic risks.

“Accordingly, the Commission directs all manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers to immediately review their inventories and withdraw from sale any consumer goods that do not comply with applicable labelling requirements,” the statement added.

The FCCPC further warned that businesses that continue to distribute or sell non-compliant products risk regulatory sanctions.

The commission also advised consumers to carefully inspect product labels before purchase and avoid goods with missing, altered, illegible or misleading information.

It urged members of the public to report suspected cases of non-compliance through its official complaint channels, adding that it would intensify market surveillance and enforcement efforts nationwide to strengthen consumer protection.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the arrest of a drug cartel’s Nigerian ringleader, a self styled luxury goods dealer and social media influencer, as he attempted to flee to Paris. The agency has equally dismantled the alleged international cocaine trafficking cartel.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CCEO) of the NDLES, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd), disclosed in a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.

Marwa described the operation as a major narcotics investigation that yielded 184.50 kilogrammes of cocaine, with an estimated street value of N39 billion, intercepted at a courier company.

According to him, the cartel’s arrowhead, Afolabi Kazeem Michael, known online as ‘KC Luxury,’ disguised his illicit enterprise as a legitimate luxury goods business.

Also arrested was Lawal Mujab Kehinde, a logistics staff member who processed the syndicate’s shipments to the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.

Marwa explained that Michael was apprehended on 13th August at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport boarding gate while attempting to board a business class flight to Paris.

Operatives recovered 7,750 euros, 2,800 pounds, and N100,000, alongside expensive jewellery, from the suspect.

A subsequent search of his Banana Island residence led to the seizure of exotic vehicles.

Marwa said: “This cartel leader did not walk into our custody voluntarily. Upon credible intelligence that he intended to flee the country, our operatives moved decisively and apprehended him at the boarding gate just as he attempted to escape the reach of the law.”

The NDLEA boss noted a worrying shift by drug trafficking organisations towards courier and logistics companies mistakenly viewing them as softer targets.

The CCEO also highlighted the international cooperation that led to near simultaneous arrests of cartel members by British authorities.

Warning drug barons, Marwa added “To those who believe they can hide behind luxury brands, glamorous lifestyles, and social media personas while trafficking poison into our communities this agency will find you.”

_MUTA: ‘Displacement does not extinguish ownership. Violence cannot become a pathway to land acquisition’_

By Felix Umande

The Mutual Union of Tiv in America, MUTA, has rejected the Federal Government’s inclusion of Benue State in the pilot phase of the National Ranching Policy, describing the move as “profoundly troubling” in light of years of killings, displacement and land seizures in the state.

In a statement signed by MUTA President, Prof. Akaa Daniel Ayangeakaa, and Secretary, Prof. Joseph T. Zume, the diaspora group said government must first secure citizens, return IDPs to their ancestral homes and restore their land rights before contemplating any ranching project.

“For more than a decade, communities across Benue State have endured devastating attacks, loss of lives, destruction of homes and farms, and mass displacement associated with violent herdsmen attacks,” the statement said.
“Large numbers of our people remain uprooted from their ancestral communities and continue to live under extremely difficult conditions in internally displaced persons camps.”

Following an emergency meeting, MUTA resolved to oppose Benue’s inclusion and called on the Benue State Government, traditional institutions, elected representatives and civil society to pursue “every lawful and democratic means” to protect ancestral lands.

The group posed six direct questions to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government:

1. Why Benue? What objective criteria were used and what consultations were conducted?
2. Consent: Were Benue communities meaningfully consulted and did they consent?
3. Ownership: Who will own and operate the proposed ranches — Benue communities, government, private investors, or outside livestock owners?
4. Land source: Will any land belonging to displaced communities, or land from which communities were driven by violence, be incorporated?
5. Guarantees: What guarantees ensure displaced Benue people regain full possession of ancestral lands before any ranching project?
6. Fairness: Why should public resources support private livestock enterprises on community land when Benue farmers get no comparable allocation elsewhere?

MUTA warned that land appearing “unoccupied” because owners were displaced by violence must not be treated as vacant or available for redistribution.

“Displacement does not extinguish ownership. Violence cannot become a pathway to land acquisition,” the statement read.

The group stressed that Benue is “overwhelmingly agrarian and is nationally recognized as the Food Basket of the Nation,” adding that “land in Benue is therefore not an idle resource waiting to be allocated. It is the foundation of our people’s livelihood, heritage, security, and future.”

MUTA called on the Federal Government to suspend Benue’s participation in the pilot and instead prioritize the safe return, rehabilitation, compensation and protection of displaced communities.

It said modern ranching could be promoted “where communities voluntarily embrace them, where suitable land is legitimately available, and where participation is based on transparent agreements rather than circumstances created by insecurity and displacement.”

The union summed up its position in four demands:
SECURE OUR PEOPLE.
RETURN THE DISPLACED TO THEIR HOMES.
RESTORE THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS.
RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF BENUE COMMUNITIES.

“No ranching policy should precede justice, security, restitution, and consent,” MUTA declared.

“Benue land is our heritage, our livelihood, and the inheritance of generations yet unborn. It must not become the price our people pay for having survived displacement.”