Alhaji Borodo, MAN president

advertisement

The product was impounded by the MAN and ECOWAS joint inter-border patrol in the wee hours of October 27 at about 1.20Am at the Seme Border.

A team of ECOWAS security patrol, MAN agencies and the police intercepted the consignment on its way to the Balogun International Market at the Trade Fair Complex Lagos. The importer, Ola Ayeni was arrested and taken to the Ijanikin ECOWAS Security Patrol area office on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. Security authorities say the accused fake product importer would be charged to court immediately investigation by the police is concluded.

The goods valued at about N31m is a fake version of Unilever’s popular brand – Sunlight Soap which the company recently re-branded.

In his confessional statement to the security operatives, MAN said Ayeni admitted that he had intended to capitalise on the repackaging and re-launch of the product to bring in the fake ones produced outside the country.

The imported fake product was cleared in one of the ports of a West African countries and was spotted at the Aflawo and Lakonji borders before being traced to Seme where the operatives were sure it was bound for the Nigeria market.

The seizure would be about the sixth time since May this year with goods of over N800m involved.

The intensified raid of the borders is a product of an integrated effort of the ECOWAS countries in forming a joint security task force that works with the local security outfits of the member states to fight drug/product faking which the MAN spokesperson said is like a disease to the economies of the involved nations.

The latest arrest was facilitated by the ECOWAS team in conjunction with the Nigeria Police at Alagbon Close, Lagos.

MAN told press men in a chat after the arrest that it has “started the fight against product fakers who frustrate the efforts of our members to fix the nation’s economy and we can’t stop.

“We have found out that these enemies of the manufacturers and the nation are unrepentant and that is why we have stepped up the fight against their activities. We will not relent in fighting them and their plots to kill manufacturing in Nigeria. Even if these men are importing genuine products, we can’t still compare the importance and contribution of manufacturing to that of importation. But worst of all, they fake and import sub-standard and unsafe consumer goods into country thereby endangering the lives of citizens and stopping the economy from growing. You would bear me witness that a citizen who could be so heartless to fake Nigerian manufacturers’ products and take the undue profit from it cannot pay even tax to the government. In the long run, he does not only make no contribution to the economy, but also stops those that contribute. That is the reason we have resolved to fight them from all fronts.

“The good news is that the stakeholders have seen the need to tackle the problem and they are all playing key roles in making the war a big success. The police have been wonderful and even the SSS and the ECOWAS security team have all played vital roles”.

MAN advised Nigerians not to patronize these products, as they are unsafe and unknown to NAFDAC that should regulate standards and qualities to know what is safe for consumption. The body also enjoined Nigerians to assist MAN and the other agencies to stamp out this threat by reporting fakers and dealers in products that have no NAFDAC accreditation number to the police or the MAN office for appropriate action.