Importers raid Chinese factory in Lagos over ‘Illegal’ production

By JUDD LEONARD

There was a drama at the weekend when members of the Importers Association of Nigeria (IAN) stormed a Chinese company along the Oshodi-Apapa expressway in Lagos for allegedly producing fake products.

The IAN, comprising Nigerian traders licensed to import into the country, in company of security agents stormed the company, Rong Chen International Limited, which produces shoes, leather slippers, sandals, canvas, among others.

The company was said to be faking foreign companies’ products like Gucci, Puma, Supreme, Nike, among others while making false declarations to the authorities in Nigeria.

The IAN team led by its National Chairman, Obinna Michael went away with samples of the products which it claimed were being produced illegally.

The team ransacked the expansive warehouse of the factory where it randomly selected several products allegedly produced by the firm without authorization.

The selection was done without any form of resistance from officials.

Production was ongoing when the team visited.

All the workers in the production line are Nigerians with some Chinese nationals supervising them.

It was also observed that several leather sandals and slippers were being produced branded with logo and the insignia of popular designer brands like Gucci, Nike, Supreme, among others.

The National Chairman said they saw some of the products in the market and had to trace the origin only to discover they were being produced albeit illegally from the factory.

He described the development as act of economic sabotage and said they have stormed the factory to be able to alert the appropriate government agencies like the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

“We got our information. We are the legitimate people that import products. So when somebody brings in fake products, you have to trace and know where they come from.

“So we traced and found out these products come from this factory, that’s why we are here,” he said.

The factory manager who was on ground when the team visited refused to speak with our correspondent and said only one Mr. Jack could speak on behalf of the company.

Daily Trust contacted Mr. Jack on phone, to speak on the allegations against the firm, he declined to respond but said there is a conspiracy against the factory which he said employs over 200 Nigerians.

He added they would not hesitate to shut down, saying, “Everything is confusing to me, I spoke to Obinna before, you called me again. If you want to report our factory no problem, let our factory close and sack over 200 people. We will close our factory by ourselve simple [sic], if you guys like it. You mean you don’t want to encourage the local people to work for us.”

When pressed further to react to the allegations, he then requested a letter be sent to the company for a reaction. (Daily Trust)