Importer, Market Reps To Witness Destruction Of Used Tyres Siezed By SON

Mallam Farouk Salim (centre) with SON Officials and Security team at the scene of the seizure in Port Harcourt.

Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, (SON), Mallam Farouk Salim has promised to invite the importer of the two truck loads of used tyres siezed by SON in Port Harcourt along with representatives of the Market Association to witness the destruction of the products.

A statement made available by the SON Head of Public Relations, Mr. Bola Fashina said two container loads of imported, used tyres, stuffed five into one, were seized by officials of the SON while being off-loaded into a warehouse at the Ikoku Motor Spare Parts Market in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

TheFact Nigeria reports that the seizure was sequel to an alert provided by a patriotic Nigerian to officials of the SON who moved to the site with the support of the Security forces.

The Importer, Mr. Uchenna Ibewute in company of the Chairman, Port Harcourt Motor Spare Parts Dealers Union, High Chief Anthony Iwu in a written undertaking conceded the consignment to SON for destruction and pleaded for leniency from prosecution, promised to desist from dealing in substandard products henceforth.

Mallam Farouk Salim who led the exercise as part of his working visit to Rivers State accepted the plea of the Importer for leniency on account of being a first offender and his willingness to cooperate with SON in ridding the society of the dangerous items.

While commending the informant, the Security personnel and SON officials for their patriotism in carrying out the enforcement activity, he called on Nigerians to assist SON in protecting the citizens by providing useful information on standards infractions.

According to him, “It is bad enough to import used tyres, but worse to have them stuffed five into one as even stuffed new tyres constitute dangers to road users because of the damage already done to them in the process of stuffing and un-stuffing”.

“Used tyres are contraband and Nigerians should avoid using them as there are no standards to adjudge their quality status,” he said.

The SON DG reiterated his plan to continue the engagement with market associations across the country to ensure their collaboration in order to substantially reduce the circulation of substandard and life-threatening products in Nigeria.

“We have to work with them because we cannot make headway except we have good intelligence which can only come from the people within and around the markets. The market leaders know the bad eggs among them and we are confident that they are ready to remove them” he said.

This according to him is essential in order to protect the hardworking majority who are doing genuine businesses and complying with government regulations, paying taxes and providing employment for Nigerians.

Investigations revealed that the stuffed, used tyres were concealed in containers of imported used vehicles to beat regulatory procedures.

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