According to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), it is updating its Act to ensure that vendors of potentially lethal goods are sentenced to jail time rather than fines.
This was said by Malam Farouk Salim, the director general of SON, on Thursday in Lagos when materials seized by the organisation were being destroyed.
Salim claimed that the peddlers are economic saboteurs that destroy industries and consumers who only purchase the goods.
“In the previous National Assembly, we requested that they reform our law so that vendors of life-threatening goods face jail time rather than just fines.
“They passed the legislation, but regrettably the president was not given the chance to sign it into law.
So, it is now again being discussed in the National Assembly, and hopefully, the president will be involved shortly.
He predicted that the president will approve the amendment and that anyone caught selling frightening things would be sent in jail right away.
The head of SON claimed that some of the things being destroyed were pursuant to judicial orders.
According to Salim, the agency also seized some tyres that were unusable and others that were, but were stuffed with other used tyres.
“As a result, the tyres lost their integrity and are unsafe for society, while the ones that appear to be brand-new are actually worn tyres that have been polished and pressed to look that way.
“The motor oil lubricants fakers intercepted in Calabar used well-known products, so our Nigerian lubricant manufacturers that are successful have to deal with people trying to copy their product,”
“Nobody replicates an unsuccessful product; the only issue is that the copying is subpar.
“The item you can see in the background is not from that well-known company. It was being copied, and when they were brought before the court and found guilty, the judge allowed us to seize the goods and destroy them, the man stated.
Salim emphasised that the Nigerian cable business is prosperous and excellent, and that they assist the organisation in identifying bogus cables.
He claimed that SON occasionally employs intelligence to isolate individuals because their actions were negatively impacting the nation’s economy.
“We must ensure that our indigenous businesses are safeguarded due to the focus on local content.
“These cables are supposed to be copper, but they are either coated in iron or copper, which gets hot and starts fires when used in buildings,” he claimed.
The SON director general estimated that the products were worth billions of naira and added that more would be seized in order to get the offenders to stop.
“These things might not look appealing to your eyes, but an unscrupulous person could take them, clean them up, and sell them to consumers while reaping billions of naira in profit.
The location is constantly being watched over by police and civil defence, therefore the objects that were confiscated are safe there, he claimed. (NAN)
