2 Chinese arrested over N5bn worth of substandard tyres

The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has confiscated N5 billion worth of substandard tyres allegedly imported by two Chinese nationals and their collaborators.

During a tour led by the SON Director General, Osita Aboloma, to Satellite Town, Lagos yesterday, about two million imported tyres were seen in a warehouse situated beside the popular Navy Town in the area.

According to Aboloma, the Chinese importers were busted through inter-agency collaboration and intelligence received from “well meaning 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 volume of tyres brought in and you can imagine the implication for our society if these tyres are let into the market,” he said.

The SON DG said the sub-standard tyres which were shipped into the country from China, were post-dated to make them appear road worthy.

“Because we have sensitised the public that while buying tyres, they should look out for the manufacturing date, these people post-dated their tyres to reflect manufacturing date to be first week of January 2017, whereas, the tyres birthed 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?

“Again, even if these are to be standard tyres, the fact that up to five of them were being tucked into one, with operators using rods to separate them from one another when they reached Nigeria, the tyres will naturally become substandard. This is because in the course of separating them from the squeeze, the wires and geometrics of the tyres will be affected,” he said.

Aboloma added that up to 60 containers brought in the tyres, making the operation the biggest ever busted by SON.

“As you can see, they have different types and models of tyres. They have for tricycles, trailers, buses and normal cars. When the tyres are separated from one another, they simply brand them to deceive unwary Nigerians. But I can assure the Nigerian public that these arrested persons will be prosecuted under the new SON Act,” he added.

He gave the names of the suspects as Tanlong Shen and Xu Jing Yao.