The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), in collaboration with the Nigeria Police have seized 504 cartons of substandard Bic brand shaving sticks.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Bola Fashina, the Special Adviser to SON’s Director-General, Mr Osita Aboloma explained that the Divisional Police Headquarters, Ebute Ero, Lagos, handed over the seized suspected substandard products to its representatives in Lagos.
SON officials had earlier evacuated 196 Cartons of the suspected substandard Bic brand of shaving sticks from the same Ebute Ero Market, bringing the total to 700 cartons worth more than N6.4 million.
The Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), Mr Bello Taofeek, while handing over the suspected substandard shaving sticks to SON, said they were seized from a truck waiting to be offloaded inside the Ebute Ero Market.
Taofeek said the seizure followed credible information provided by some patriotic Nigerians in response to the call by regulatory agencies for all hands to e on deck to ensure quality vanguard.
He noted the existing robust collaboration between the Ebute Ero Police Command, SON as well as other regulatory agencies toward ridding the society of substandard and unwholesome products as well as apprehend their purveyors.
The DCO, while pledging continuous support of the Divisional Police Headquarters, said that investigations were still ongoing to unravel those behind the consignments and the source with a view to bringing them to book.
Receiving the suspected substandard products on behalf of SON, Coordinator of the Lagos State Office 1, Mrs Nwaoma Olujie, expressed appreciation to the Police division for the existing
collaboration.
According to Olujie, the robust collaboration has yielded positive results as several suspected substandard products and those behind them have been impounded in the past.
She reiterated the commitment of SON director-general to ensure that all those involed in the manufacture and sale of substandards products were prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of SON Act number 14 of 2015 and the Nigerian Criminal Code.
The state coordinator of SON assured the public of SON’s preparedness to work closely with the Police to unravel those behind the suspected substandard shaving sticks.
“”Samples of the suspected substandard shaving sticks, according to her will be sent to the laboratory for quality verification tests and analysis as part of the investigation,’’ she said.
Olujie decried the unpatriotic activities of fakers of certified popular brands which according to her impacts negatively on genuine businesses, health and safety of consumers and the economy of the nation.
She also admonished dealers in Nigerian markets to avoid counterfeited products like plague, warning that the law would not exonerate them for circulating such substandard and unsafe products.
She also advised owners of popular certified brands not to relent in efforts toward brand protection, and work closely with regulatory and security agencies.
“”SON has in place several initiatives to discover and apprehend suspected substandard products, including close collaboration with sister regulatory and security agencies as well as owners of certified brands.
“It also has consumer feedback desks in its 42 states offices nationwide, an interactive website as well as toll free lines to encourage credible information from patriotic Nigerians,” she said.
