The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) on Thursday said it had destroyed more than 60 truck-loads of used and substandard tyres.
Mr Louis Njoku, the SON Director of Enforcement, said this at the destruction of the tyres at its dumpsite in Sagamu, Ogun.
Njoku said that the move was to encourage companies such as Dunlop and Michelin to relocate their industries back to Nigeria.
“We told you that when we discover these substandard tyres, we will destroy them and we are destroying them now,’’ he said.
According to him, I am assuring you that all the culprits involved will be prosecuted.
He said that those tyres have no economic value to Nigerians, except death and negative value to the economy.
“It has no economic value and the reason for this is that anything that kills cannot be attached to value, but rather having a negative value,’’ he said.
Njoku said that destruction of the tyres would encourage producers and manufacturers who left Nigeria as a result of the unfair competitive environment to return.
“You saw the numbers of tyres and this would discourage a lot of people from buying new tyres believing that what they were buying are good.
“But by the time we remove them out of the system, you will see that a lot of lives will be saved.
“The manufacturers will be encouraged to come back and manufacture,” he said.