SON to destroy N600m worth of substandard tyres

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has stated plans to destroy substandard tyres worth over N600 million

It said the tyres were unsafe and unfit for Nigerian roads.

The Director-General, SON, Farouk Salim, explained that the products were stuffed in over 100 containers, pointing out that the tyres failed integrity tests.

Salim, at an enforcement exercise, said the warehouse stocking the substandard goods was discovered, courtesy of its Inspectorate Compliance and Directorate (ICD), stressing the need to checkmate substandard goods at the nation’s point of entry.

‘’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 if you can imagine another 15 warehouses around the country, we are looking at about 2000 containers slipping through unnoticed,’’ he said.

‘’Do not forget that the country is wide and I will not be surprised if there are other warehouses in the north. 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.

This is why about 100 containers slipped through the ports and ended up in the warehouse,’’ he added.

According to the SON boss, the tyres with no economic value, are like time bombs waiting to explode, maintaining that SON would stop at nothing to ensure that substandard tyres do not find their ways into the hands of unsuspecting consumers in the country.

He, however, described its relationship with Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) as excellent, pointing out the need for closer synergy between sister agencies to combat the menace of substandard goods.

‘’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.’’