The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has raided Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder shops for selling substandard cylinders in Kaduna state.
The raid which took place over the weekend in Kaduna included Katsina road, Alkali road, constitution road and Ahmadu Bello way led to the seizure of over 30 LPG cylinders.
Heavily armed with policemen, the officials of SON stormed the business premises and confiscated the cylinders after examining it to make sure the cylinders did not meet up with standard.
Daily Trust reports that the shop owners were however not happy about the development as some of them engaged the officials in a fight, while some resisted the confiscation of their goods.
Speaking with newsmen after the raid, the SON state Coordinator, Mr. Danlami Emmanuel Datti said, “They are substandard cylinders because any product that does not meet the requirement or the standard is below the specification of the standard is substandard.
The Coordinator while explaining the essence of the raid said SON has standard for every product adding that, “Anyone producing below it, will be pick up, most especially you know the national standard is a minimum requirement. We are expecting everybody to meet to that no matter what kind of facility you are using.
“If you are doing it right, we will definitely get to that minimum requirement, and it is based on the technical of pinpointing substandard products that government in her wisdom set up SON to protect the citizen.”
He added, “If an individual has a cylinder that is 12.5 downwards, you cannot see more than double welding there, you will just see one. In a nut shell, if it is not a continuous welding, it is not a good product and we call them substandard, but if you are have 12.5 upwards 25kg and 50kg, you can have more than two welding vertical and horizontal and that is a good product.”
He noted that the before any raid, officials of the organisation undergo a market survey to ascertain the marketers of substandard products before they go for a raid saying, “The marketers are very aware of our activities, we have different forum that we sensitize them, they know our expectation.”
He said the SON 2015 Act clearly states the penalties for people selling products below standard and the essence of the penalty is not just to generate revenue but to serve as a deterrent to others.
He explained that the aim of picking up substandard cylinders is to get to the root of where the products are being produced through their receipt or way bill.
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