By Muhammad Sani Mu’azu
In a bid to saving the lives of the public, substandard and expired items worth over seven million naira have been destroyed by the standard organisation of Nigeria (SON) Bauchi Office.
The exercise according to the northeast zonal director of SON Adamu Abba Bauchi is in collaboration with the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that all the food and non food items seized by the organisation were destroyed in a most environment friendly way, to protect the lives and property of human beings as well as to save the environment.
He added that over three thousand soft drinks were not burnt together with other items as they will harm the environment as advised by the Environmental protection agency.
The northeast zonal director of SON asserted that the fight against substandard products is a collective responsibility and everyone has a stake, and as such appealed to members of the public to report to the organisation wherever they come in contact with any substandard product in the market.
Adamu Abba Bauchi used the medium to appreciate the Bauchi state traders and artisans Association for their cooperation, as they voluntarily reported most of the expired products to the Standard Organisation of Nigeria for proper action, urging them to maintain the tempo for the sake of protecting public health.
Also speaking, the co’ordinator Bauchi office of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria Murtala Malami Sa’ad noted that the feat was achieved as a result of commitment and expertise exhibited by his personnel through their weekly market survey, which resulted in the seizure of the expired, substandard and unbranded products from various shops in Bauchi state.
He said in addition to thousands of cartons of softdrinks destroyed, other items burnt during the exercise include cosmetics, agro chemicals, myonaise, milk among many others.
He added that, this is the first time of carrying out such exercise, which according to him may not be unconnected with the commitment of the director general of organisations Malam Farouk A Saleem towards getting rid of all substandard products from Nigerian markets.
The state co’ordinator sent a stern warning to traders in Bauchi state to desist from sharp practices, as the organisation will hunt down all defaulters and will ensure that they face full wrath of the law.
Murtala Malami Sa’ad also advised members of the public to always check for expiring date on every product before use with a view to safeguarding their health.