• As SON arrests two Chinese for importing N5bn fake tyres

The Department of State Services ( DSS) has linked a former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan with seized vehicles containing weapons, Certificate of Occupancy and keys to exotic cars.

Independent sources told the MARITIME FIRST that the seizure was made possible by a whistleblower, who thought the cargo was money, from which he could benefit by getting a reasonable percentage.

An operative of DSS, Mr Tony Opuiyo, indicated this in a statement, noting that the items which were seized in Abuja on Friday, were recovered at the property of Dunes Investment and Global Properties Ltd, located at No 44 Aguiyi Ironsi Way, Maitama, Abuja.

He listed the items as Glock pistol with two magazines and 29 rounds of ammunition;  Mini-Uzi with two magazines containing 10 rounds  as well as 42 extra rounds of ammunition contained in a pack.

Others are one AK-47, 21 Certificates of Occupancy,  one offer of Statutory Right of Occupancy, 23 luxury designer watches and 45 keys to various exotic cars.

He said that the items were stashed in the boots of cars parked at the property, particularly a Mercedes Benz S550 (BWR 135AH), and Masarati 4.7 (BWR 207 AJ), which had been confiscated.

Opuiyo said following the discovery and further investigation, the Service had invited Suswam, who was presently helping in the investigations.

He warned that the Service would no longer tolerate any acts of lawlessness by those who ought to be law abiding and responsible citizens.

“The Service has also observed with total dismay the inciting utterances of some political actors whose activities heat up the polity,” he said.

He said that the Service would not hesitate to go after anyone who engaged  in acts capable of causing a  breach of peace.

In the meantime, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria has arrested two Chinese nationals, Taolung Shen and Xu Jing Yau, who were said to have dealt in substandard tyres worth over N5bn.

The suspects, according to a statement on Sunday, were paraded following their arrest, and the sealing of the warehouse where they had been cloning different sizes of tyres under different brand names.

The suspects, the statement added, churned out the substandard tyres into the Nigerian market under brand names such as Powertrac, Aptany, Harmony, Duraturn, Bearway, City Tour, Winda, Glory, Chachland, City Grand, Grandsonte and Sunny.

According to SON, the suspects brought the substandard tyres into Nigeria by stuffing them into one another.

“Sometimes as many as five tyres were stuffed into one and the tyres would have bent and ruptured in several places, thereby looking weak and slack.

“But the Chinese adorned the tyres with new labels and shinny linings to create the impression of being new and healthy,” SON said.

Some of the tyres found in the warehouse had post-dated manufacturing dates.

The agency’s Director General, Osita Aboloma, who conducted journalists round the warehouse, described the tyres as dead on arrival, saying allowing the sale of such tyres in the country amounted to “surreptitiously taking away the lives of millions of Nigerians.”

He observed that by stuffing the tyres into one another and conveying them through the sea from China to Lagos, the quality of the tyres had already been compromised.

Aboloma also noted that the crude way the tyres were separated on arrival in Nigeria and the poor storage facility, without sufficient aeration, in the warehouse had further compromised their quality.

“The SON Directorate of Compliance intercepted one of their trucks on the highway, tracked it and then this.

“You can see the amount of danger that these people are posing to our people and our economy just because they want to make huge profit at the expense of the lives of Nigerians.

“It is a clear case of investing millions in illicit business in order to take away the lives of millions of Nigerians, to destroy the lives of millions of Nigerians. If we allow something like this, it will amount to killing Nigerians,” Aboloma said.

The DG said there would be no hiding place for people who dealt in adulterated products in the country.

“I want to reiterate that there is no hiding place for those who deal in substandard products as they would be caught and their products confiscated. Today’s feat is an example,” he said.

Aboloma advised users of automobile tyres nationwide on the need to be extra-cautious when making purchases of such products.

He urged tyre users to henceforth demand that dealers indicate the manufacturing dates on the receipts, so as to make the seller take responsibility on any product sold by them

Additional report from Punch