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In Awka, Anambra State, a Federal High Court has ordered the destruction of fake shoe polish impounded in some markets in Onitsha.
The court presided over by Justice I. B. Gafai said the 1,600 tins of fake Kiwi polish worth about N42m should be destroyed by burning.
In addition to the destruction of the fake products, the court ordered the seizure of the property of the importers and awarded N2m against them.
The counsel for Asco Investment, Mr. Tagbo Anaeto, described the faking of genuine products as a great economic sabotage as it was an infringement on the trademark of registered owners of Kiwi products.
Anaeto expressed gratitude to the judiciary for the order and the steadfastness of the Chairman of Asco Investments, Chief Sam Anyanwutaku, to wipe out fake products from the markets.
He said, “It is an ongoing exercise. We are in every market to fish out fake Kiwi products, especially markets in Onitsha.
“Those involved in the illegal act do so under the cover of a company and we are happy that the court has directed the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to sanction them appropriately.
“We are also happy that the fake products are no longer as prevalent as they used to be as the people involved are beginning to realise that Asco Investment are unrelenting in fighting the fake Kiwi polish importers.”
Anyanwutaku lauded the judiciary, security agencies and the foreign manufacturers of the products for supporting the efforts of his company to wipe out fake Kiwi products from Nigeria.
“It is only few people that still engage in it and we hope to completely wipe them out soon. In the past, majority of the Kiwi polish in Nigeria was fake, but through our efforts, the problem has reduced considerably,” he added.
Source: Tony Okafor, Awka (PUNCH.)
