Two Chinese nabbed, company sealed over importation of fake and substandard tyres worth N5bn (Photos)

Two Chinese have been arrested for their involvement in the importation of fake and substandard tyres worth N5 billion into the country

MessrsTaolung Shen and Xu Jing Yao were arrested and their company Sino Nigeria Import and Export Limited’s warehouse in Lagos sealed by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

Director-General of SON Osita Aboloma,  showed reporters round the warehouse at Alakija area on Badagry Road in Lagos at the weekend, said they also cloned different sizes of tyres under renowned brand names and many of the tyres arrived in Nigeria stuffed into one another leaving them bent and ruptured.He said

”The SON Directorate of Compliance intercepted one of their trucks on the highway, tracked it and then this. You can see the amount of danger that these people are posing to our people and our economy just because they want to make huge profit at the expense of the lives of Nigerians”

“it is a clear case of investing millions in illicit business in order to take away the lives of millions of Nigerians. to destroy the lives of millions of Nigerians.

“we acted on the intelligence we received from well-meaning Nigerians. This was achieved as a result of inter-agency collaboration. The glory is not for SON alone.

You can see the number of tyres brought in and you can imagine the implication for our society if these tyres are let into the market. “We have over 60 containers of tyres; actually stuffed tyres to be precise. Again, even if these are to be standard tyres, the fact that up to five of them were tucked into one, with operators using rods to separate them from one another when they reached Nigeria, the tyres will naturally become substandard.

 He added

because we have sensitised the public that while buying tyres, they should look out for the manufacturing date, these people postdated their tyres to reflect manufacturing date to be first week of January 2017. Inside the warehouse. “However, the tyres berthed on Nigerian soil first week of February 2017. So, are they saying it took them only four weeks to bring the tyres from China to Nigeria across the sea?”

If we should allow something like this, it will amount to killing Nigerians”,”I want to reiterate that there is no hiding place for those who deal in substandard products as they will be caught and their products confiscated. Today’s is an example”,

”Nothing can be recouped from such stuffed in tyres, no need to test anything because the tyres have already been destroyed on arrival,” he said.

Aboloma promised to bring the Chinese and others in illicit trade to book.

[Images-Vanguard/The Nation]