SON confiscates substandard cables worth N5m in Kwara

The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) said it had confiscated substandard cables worth more than five million naira during a raid of markets in Ilorin.

Mrs Esther Okon, the State Coordinator of the organisation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Ilorin, said that the cables had been sent to the laboratory for analysis.

Okon, who explained that the raid was based on the directive of the Director-General of the organisation, said that the state had become a dumping ground for substandard cables.

She said that aside the fact that importation of substandard products was not healthy for the nation’s economy, low quality cables portend high risk for consumers.

“Nigeria is being used as a dumping ground for cables from all over the world,” she said.

Okon noted that the cables seized by the organisation fell far below the industrial standards in size and diameter, flame retardant, flexibility and good conductibility among others.

“Quite a lot of substandard cables were discovered. The raid was like an eye opener for all of us because we were able to realise that Kwara is being used as a dumping ground even by other states.

“They come in because the raid took place in all other states of the federation, we were among the last one to enforce it and all the ones that were taken out of other states landed in Kwara.

“We allowed them to land safely before we went out to catch up with them,” Okon said.

Okon urged business owners to trade in standard products, noting that it was a way of showing love and patriotism for the country.

-NAN