Standard Organisation of Nigeria destroys over 6000 expired tyres

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), on Thursday, destroyed over 6,000 expired and substandard tyres confiscated in Port Harcourt, Rivers.

The tyres were imported in Nigeria.

Supervising the destruction in Enugu, Obinna Manafa, the director, Inspectorate and Compliance Directorate of SON, said the destruction was to prevent such tyres from getting into the markets and homes.

Mr Manafa said the products were intercepted and impounded by SON in Port Harcourt two weeks ago, following an intelligence report about a warehouse where they were stocked.

The cost of the expired and stuffed tyres runs into several millions of naira, Mr Manafa said.

He said that Nigerians should know the lifespan of every tyre is four years.

“These tyres we are destroying today, which is locally called ‘tokunbo tyres’ have been used for several years overseas.

“Before they are imported in the country, they have stayed beyond four years already.

“The third issue wrong with these ‘tokunbo’ tyres is that they are forcefully stuffed inside each other, and at times, you might have six tyres stuffed together into one tyre.

“Any tyre stuffed with another has already lost its balance on ground and internal wire alignment of such tyre has been disarrayed also,’’ he said.

The director said that stuffed and expired tyres were sometimes concealed to beat regulatory procedures, assuring that SON would not relent in its fight against fake and substandard goods.

The products, according to him, failed the conformity and integrity tests.

“The decision to destroy them is to save lives and property of Nigerians, since these expired and stuffed tyres can burst at high speed on major highways and deny the user, if he or she is still alive, the value for his or her money,’’ he said.

Mr Manafa advised Nigerians to look carefully at the expiry date of a tyre before buying as well as “alert SON officials if any new tyre looks suspicious”.

He said the destroyed tyres would not be burnt, but sold to rubber and plastic recycling companies to generate revenue for the federal government.

“It is better that way instead of it constituting environmental hazard through burning,” he said.

(NAN)