The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has announced the seizing of substandard tyres worth over N600 million Naira during an enforcement exercise along the Lagos Ibadan expressway.
Commenting on the recent development, the Director-General of SON, Malam Farouk Salim noted that the seizure was part of SON’s efforts and commitment to safeguarding the lives and properties of unsuspecting consumers.
Salim also called for stronger synergy between his organization (SON) and the Nigerian Customs, noting that the fight against substandard goods was best tackled at the point of entry.
The SON boss noted that the seized tyres, with no economic value, were like time bombs waiting to explode. He maintained that SON would stop at nothing to ensure that substandard tyres do not find their way into the hands of unsuspecting consumers in the country.
In summary, Salim said: ‘’This is a very dangerous situation because people’s lives are at stake and our roads are not safe because of something like this. We have no idea how these tyres got into this country, we are not at the ports and it did not come through us and they do not have papers with us that the goods have been cleared.
“We do not also have access to the port, because if we were at the ports, there is no way we would allow about 100 containers, and you can imagine if there existed another 15 warehouses around the country, we are looking at about 2000 containers slipping through unnoticed.
‘’Do not forget that the country is wide and I will not be surprised if there are other warehouses in other locations.
“It is a very dangerous trend and this is why we are still emphasising that the best way to enforce is to be at the point of entry.
“Our message to importers is that we are coming for unscrupulous importers and we are not ready for compromise and we will prosecute. There is no way we can salvage these tyres, so we are going to destroy them.‘‘We have arrested the manager of the warehouse, but the owner of the product is a foreigner and happens to be outside of the country, and we are sure he would come to explain himself; and if he does not, we will just prosecute the manager and anybody involved in this property,” he said.
