The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has confiscated fake electrical cables and wires worth N30.5 million in Ekiti State.
The incident happened during a raid in some major markets in the state after an intelligence report revealed that some of the vendors were dealing with substandard cables.
Expectedly, the SON task force sealed off some of the shops after the confiscation of the substandard items in truckloads.
Director of the Inspectorate and Compliance Department, SON, Mr Pius Manji said that the exercise was aimed at sanitising the markets of substandard cables and wires.
Manji who was represented by Engr Joel Aboyeji said the substandard items were evacuated to prevent them from going into circulation.
According to him, the unscrupulous importer even went as far as cloning popular brands to deceive innocent members of the public.
Such development, he noted, could affect local manufacturers, and investments in the sector and pose grave dangers to households most of which would be prone to fire outbreaks as a result of using the substandard products.
The SON, he stressed, would not relent in its mandate of ensuring that only quality products are allowed in the markets.
While noting that the confiscated cables and wires would be destroyed, he, however, assured the SON would not relent until it prosecuted electrical dealers who flood the markets with substandard products.
He said, SON’s enforcement team would continue to burst dubious importers and sellers dealing in substandard electrical materials, just as he warned dealers of electrical cables to desist from selling the products or risk continued seizure of the products by the regulatory agency. Their action does not only sabotage and destroy local industries and our economy but also put the lives of Nigerians in danger,” he noted.
