SON seizes N600m of substandard tyres

The Nigerian Standards Organization (SON) seized on Friday N600 million of substandard tyres during an enforcement exercise along the Lagos-Ibadan Highway.

SON CEO, Malam Farouk Salim, during the law enforcement exercise said the seizure was part of SON’s efforts and commitment to protecting the lives and property of unsuspecting consumers.

Salim denounced the absence of the standards body in the country’s port, stressing that tackling substandard goods was best addressed at the point of entry.

According to him, the control exercise was aimed at ensuring that the tires did not end up on national markets.

Salim, at a low-key warehouse in a remote area of ​​Ogun, showed the tires stacked in more than 100 containers, noting that the integrity of the tires had been lost.

The SON boss noted that the seized tires, of no economic value, were like time bombs waiting to explode.

He argued that SON will stop at nothing to ensure inferior tires do not end up in the hands of unsuspecting consumers in the country.

Salim, who described SON’s relationship with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) as excellent, stressed the need for closer synergy between the two agencies to tackle the threat of substandard goods.

“It’s 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 tires got to this country, we are not in the ports and they have not passed through us and they have no papers with us indicating that the goods have been customs cleared.

“We don’t have access to the port either, because if we were in the ports, we couldn’t allow around 100 containers, and you can imagine if there were still 15 warehouses across the country, we are looking at around 2,000. containers slip away unnoticed.

“Remember, the country is huge and I won’t be surprised if there are other warehouses in other places.

“It’s a very dangerous trend and that’s why we always insist that the best way to enforce is to be at the point of entry.

“Our message to importers is that we come for unscrupulous importers and that we are not ready for a compromise and we will continue. There is no way to get these tires back, so we’re going to destroy them.

“We arrested the warehouse manager, but the owner of the product is a foreigner and is out of the country, and we’re sure he would come and explain himself; and if he doesn’t, we’ll just sue the manager and anyone involved in this property, ”he said.

Salim urged members of the public to always insist on purchasing quality products, saying this is the only way to boost Nigeria‘s industrialization.

Warehouse manager Emmanuel Ogbagu, responding to questions from the general manager, said the warehouse employs outside labour to unpack the tires to be transported to markets across the country.

He said all efforts to reach the warehouse owner were unsuccessful and claimed to ignore the consequences of the tire jam.