Traders lament raid of Computer Village by SON

Traders at the popular Computer Village, Ikeja, in Lagos are still licking their wounds from a raid allegedly carried out by officers of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in a bid by the organisation to rid the market of alleged counterfeit and substandard products.

Speaking with the media on the development, one of the traders revealed that officers of SON, backed by some law enforcement agents, came to the market at the weekend in a surprise raid and allegedly shot into the air before swooping on some shops to cart away many products.

“They shot into the air and entered shops and started firing teargas, thereby causing a lot of commotion,” said the market source, who claimed that the regulatory body was acting on “complaints by some unnamed Chinese phone companies.”

The raid, which was said to have created commotion in the market, reportedly resulted in the lock down of many shops in the market, while a spillover of the ensuing commotion was said to have been witnessed at the nearby Awolowo way.

When contacted, the spokesperson of SON in Lagos, Mr Nathaniel Basey, said that he was not aware of the development as he was out of Lagos as of the time of the call, but confirmed that SON had the right to carry out raids on any market suspected to be a haven of substandard products.