The Niger State office of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has set ablaze items found to be sub-standard and expired in Minna, the state capital.
The products seized and burnt included 17 bottles of Fair and White cream, 250 coils of electrical cables of different brands, 75 bottles and packs of food and beverages, 19 pieces of automobile tyres and 73 bottles and packs of bread improvers and additives.
Speaking before the destruction of the items, the state coordinator of SON, Mrs Hauwa Nuhu Yusuf, said they were burning the items to set example for those selling products that are not good for circulation in the society.
“What we are doing is a result of the monitoring exercise we carried out over a period of time from stores and supermarkets where we found some cosmetics, food items, tyres and others that have expired and not good for use.
She explained that the goods destroyed were worth over N2 million, stressing that they were not looking at the loss on the part of the sellers but the effect on the society because the health of Nigerians is more important than any monetary loss.
The coordinator also explained that the owners; shops and supermarkets owners where the items were found were invited for sensitization as many of them were ignorant of the effect of the products on people.
The seized tyres were taken to NASREA for recycling as the SON coordinator explained that they don’t want to burn the tyres to avoid environmental pollution.
An official of NASREA, Ognudot Abiodun, said they have registered waste collectors that have undergone extensive producers responsibility training to ensure that the waste were handled properly.
