The Auto Spare Parts & Machinery Dealers Association (ASPMDA) has passed a resolution that, going forward, any member found dealing on adulterated engine oil or any spare parts shall forfeit his shops, buildings or plazas.
The resolution followed an emergency general meeting held Wednesday at the association’s hall in Lagos International Trade Fair Complex.
This was the fall out of recent massive raids carried out by the Department of State Security (DSS) in the market where several fake engine oil brands were impounded and their owners arrested.
Speaking at the emergency meeting, the President of ASPMDA, Hon. Ngozi Emechebe decried what he and all his Executive and BoT members passed through at the Office of the DSS following the raid on fake oil dealers in the market.
Accordingly, the members in one accord resolved that anyone caught dealing on any form of adulteration including engine oil and other auto spare parts shall forfeit his shops and be exited from the association.
According to Emechebe, “While we are going to rejig our security and surveillance team with training and modern technology to track offenders, we humbly assure the general public that ASPMDA remains the center of quality auto spare parts and the largest in West and sub-Saharan Africa.
“Aside taking over the shops of products adulterators, we shall hand them over to the Police for prosecution and further make sure they never come back to this market to do any kind of business in their life.
Adding his voice, former ASPMDA President and current chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Dr. Daniel Offorkansi decried the sudden return of adulterators in the market, saying “All hands must be on deck to stamp out enemies of the progress of ASPMDA which is globally known for dealing in high quality auto spare parts.
In his submission, former ASPMDA President, Chief Charles Age Okeke decried the incompetence of the Security and Surveillance Arm of ASPMDA leadership which is supposed to share strategic intelligence with the CSO who will then advise the President to take action ahead of time to avoid such DSS embarrassment.
According to him, time has come to truly retrain and restructure the Security and Surveillance for a well secured ASPMDA, decrying that it has never been like this before now.
Chief Ofoma in his contribution, made it clear that “If we want to tell ourselves the truth, we all know them very well. This time around, the leadership of ASPMDA must do something different by placing a public announcement in the media distancing the market from any form of adulteration.
“Secondly, every landlord or Plaza or shop owner must do Know Your Tenant (KYT) by forcing every tenant to sign an agreement assuring that he will only deal on genuine parts. That whenever he deviates and deals on fake products, he shall be removed from ASPMDA and handed over to the law enforcement agencies” Ofoma advised.
While adjourning the emergency meeting, ASPMDA President called a number of officials especially office owners at Block 7, 17, 18, 19 and 20 immediately.
He also hinted of planned numbering and enumeration of shops and plazas by the Management Board in concert with DSS as a way of strategic security system to stamp of fakery. (Vanguard)
