Crusoe Osagie
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has said it will ensure that the procedure for the importation of gas cylinders and other associated products are strictly enforced and followed in the county.
The agency made the declaration in Lagos yesterday during the unveiling of two container load of substandard gas cylinders, of a total worth of N50milion.
Director of Inspectorate and compliance, Bede Obayi, told journalists at the venue that importers of gas cylinders would be made to follow the regulatory guidelines as a way of averting danger in the country.
He said the team got a tip off through its intelligence network and swooped into action leading to the arrest of the containers.
Obayi said the only cylinders approved for importation into the country as camping gas were the 3kgs and 6kgs respectively, but that some unscrupulous ones were now using the guise to bring in 10 kg cylinders as camping gas.
Obayi frowned at such a practice, saying: “The import of 10 kgs cylinders as camping gas is automatically out of the specification. The valve they have used is not a standard valve and it is not capable of carrying the 10 kg . Instead; it is made for the 3kg or 6kg camping gas”, he said.
According to him, using a 6kg approval to bring in a 10 kg is a subversion of the regulatory standards and constitutes an economic sabotage.
Such a move according to him constitutes a grave danger to lives and property.
“The importer got approval to bring in 6kg but went and imported 10 kgs camping gas, a different size which is not in line with the standard. It is a typical negligence of the laws of the land.”
He said the cylinders are substandard as far as Nigeria is concerned as the valves cannot fit the capacity of gas in the cylinder.
Obayi therefore warned the public against patronising such, saying it was dangerous, adding that the SON would soon start mopping up such consignments in the country.
He gave the financial worth of the containers to N50million.
He said the SON act had actually givens the agency more prosecutorial powers to deal with such sabotage, and that the organisation would go after those behind such acts to get them to face the law.
