SON raids warehouses, confiscates fake products
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has seized fake and substandard tyres, solar batteries and baby feeding bottle products worth billions of naira in Lagos.
A statement by the organisation said the substandard products had been evacuated from the warehouses located in various markets in Lagos State as part of efforts to rid the country of unwholesome products.
The Director-General of SON, Ifeanyi Okeke, said the tyres were damaged because of the act of stuffing them into one another in containers for shipment.
The Director of Inspectorate and Compliance at SON, Pius Manji, who represented Okeke during the raids, said the evacuation exercise was to ensure that the tyres do not find their way into the nation’s market, adding that products had been tested but failed the critical parameters as a result of stuffing.
He stated, “The act of stuffing tyres into one another instead of bringing them in different containers has rendered the tyres dead on arrival in the country.
“If they are to bring 2000 tyres in one container, they will now have the opportunity to bring in 8000 tyres and in doing that, this compromises the quality of the tyres.”
“The tyres are made of wires and carbon and the test reviewed that the textile strength of the tyres has been compromised, so they are no longer fit for use and this is why we are going to destroy them. They may look nice in the eyes, but we rely on scientific investigation and analysis.”
The SON boss explained that the solar batteries seized were fake products from known brands that did not pass the organisation’s benchmark standards.
He added, “These solar batteries are very expensive, so consumers must have value for the money. The world is going fossil energy; we will discourage anything that will hinder Nigerians from getting it right.”
Okeke also raised the alarm that some unscrupulous elements go as far as producing counterfeit baby feeding bottles just to line their pockets.
He warned manufacturers of fake products to desist from such dishonest practices as the organisation would not hesitate to wield the big stick on culpable offenders.
