The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has given phone importers up to July 22 to register their brands with it, or they would be confiscated.
The agency said the measure will significantly reduce the number of sub-standard phones, check economic saboteurs, as it seeks to review agreement with the Phone and Allied Product Dealers Association of Nigeria (PAPDAN).
This was made known by the Head of Intelligence and Directorate Compliance, Bede Obayi, at a briefing yesterday in Lagos.
Obayi said this became necessary in the face of the recent seizure of over N200m sub-standard phones imported to the country by Trinity Technologies and Communication, over the weekend in Lagos.
He said, acting on a tip-off and despite the agreement it has with PAPDAN to monitor the influx of sub-standard phones, SON was surprised to see the fraudulent acts going on in the company and the area.
“The company, whose owner is a wanted baron, imports large quantity of unbranded handsets into the country and was busy labelling them with popular brands in the market thereby deceiving the unsuspecting innocent buyers,” he said.
He explained that the phones being cloned were ‘H Mobile and DSD brands, stating that an examination of the items, revealed that they have different names on the package and phones, which was why they were confiscated.
He said the importers of the phone brands are economic saboteurs who are sabotaging the economy of the country, causing hardship on the citizenry.
He said the agency will go across the country to ensure that standards are being met, adding that faulty products will be destroyed.
