SON: We destroyed fake roofing sheets, gas cylinders worth N450m

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says it has destroyed substandard Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders and roofing sheets worth over N450 million.

Obiora Manafa, inspectorate and compliance directorate director, said the fake goods were categorised as dangerous.

He said the fake LPG cylinders were without SON Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) certificates.

“The standards for aluminium profile roofing sheets specify a minimum thickness of 0.4mm. Some of these roofing sheets have been checked to be 0.2mm, 0.3mm, which are of a low guage quality and are prohibited in Nigeria,” he said.

“We are not happy destroying these goods because it is a loss, not only to the importer but to the nation. We cannot burn the gas cylinders so we recycle them to generate revenue for the nation.”

Nwaoma Olujie, group head, LPG, SON, said the destruction exercise was in response to the series of gas explosions in the country.

She said the impact of gas explosions is unquantifiable as lives and property are being destroyed.

Olujie said: “In SON, we classified LPG cylinders as life-endangering products. A gas explosion occurred in Kaduna in January this year and there have also been a series of gas explosions in Lagos.

“We have seen the impact of these gas explosions where lives and property have been destroyed and this is why we are taking a lot of safety precautions to ensure that cylinders imported into the country meet the minimum requirement of the standard.

“We have standards for LPG which is NIS 69 and for all the valves and regulators NIS 220. The valves fitted into these cylinders must comply with NIS 220 as well as the regulators.”

According to her, the importers indulge in the nefarious act to short–change Nigerian consumers.

“The importation of cylinders is not an all-comers business, but an aspect where a lot of safety precautions must be put in place. It is a highly technical product,” he said.

“Any importer should not engage in the importation of cylinders without following the due process because we ensure that for cylinders to be imported, there must be approvals from SON. Importers must also consistently meet the requirement of the standards.”