CPC begins enforcement of Tobacco Act

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has begun enforcing the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act provisions banning sale of cigarettes in single sticks and to minors.

The council at the weekend stormed the popular Jabi Market and Wuse district in Abuja where cigarette retailers were seen selling the products in single sticks and to minors in violation of the NTC Act which commenced in 2017.

An official of the Surveillance and Enforcement Department of the CPC, Ayough Moses, said the exercise was carried out after intensive surveillance which identified black spots and showed that there was fragrant violation of the law despite massive awareness that government had carried out in the last one year.

The CPC also raided bars, lounges, and event centres in the Wuse area of the federal capital territory.

Owners of facilities where the products were openly sold were educated on the law and told to desist from sale of cigarettes in sticks as well as shisha or would be arrested in the next round of the exercise by the agency.

“In enforcing the law, the CPC felt it was very important to warn sellers of cigarettes and also use the medium to educate the ignorant. The exercise was extended to shisha bars because the product is also banned under the NTC Act,” Moses said.

He explained that the exercise which would henceforth be a routine throughout the nation was to safeguard the health of Nigerians from tobacco harms.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole had, in 2017 announced nine provisions of the NTC Act for immediate enforcement.

They include ban on single stick sale of cigarettes, ban on sale to minors, ban on smoking in public places, and prosecution of owners/managers of any facility that fails to stop smoking, or encourages it in places it is outlawed, among others.

Reacting to the raids, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) said the exercise was long overdue and is a welcomed development by Nigerians.

The ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, Dr. Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “While we commend the CPC for this action, we anticipate that other agencies of government will take a cue.”