The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) has closed a well-known grocery and cosmetics store, Pinnacle, in the Dugbe area of Ibadan due to suspicions of selling fake products, as reported by the Leadership Newspaper.
The bustling supermarket has now been reduced to a quiet establishment with its entrance gate locked and a notice redirecting customers to its branch at Challenge.
The supermarket’s management attributed the closure to technical difficulties.
An anonymous source revealed that the trouble began on Tuesday, 2nd April 2024, when NAFDAC officials arrived at the mall and ordered its immediate closure, causing disappointment among shoppers who had to leave without completing their purchases.
“The NAFDAC team entered the mall and instructed us to shut down, despite the presence of many customers who were eager to shop but had to leave due to the technical issue,” the source stated.
A senior official at NAFDAC’s Ibadan zonal office confirmed that the decision to close the supermarket originated from the agency’s Lagos office and was executed accordingly.
The NAFDAC official mentioned that they had been monitoring Pinnacle for some time and had summoned the CEO since January, but she failed to comply with the invitation, leading to the eventual shutdown.
“Despite the discovery of counterfeit goods at the mall, the woman showed a complete disregard for authority. She was summoned to the Lagos office but did not appear. No one is exempt from the law,” the source emphasised.