By Bankole Orimisan
THE Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in collaboration with HP Nigeria, have confiscated over 6500 illegal and counterfeit Information and Communications Technology (ICT) items from some marketers in a highly coordinated strike in the last three months.
This was disclosed at a news briefing in Lagos at the weekend, where they informed that there were raids on an illicit workshop and four connected retailers, seizing a total of 3,600 ready-for-sale laser print cartridge counterfeits, 1,800 fake flat boxes and almost 950 empty laser print cartridges intended for illegal use in Lagos and some major cities in the country.
According to them, Police arrested four people associated with the counterfeiting operation, adding that additional intelligence obtained during the raid led to the capture of a key figure in the local counterfeiting scene.
Speaking at the briefing, English Africa channel manager, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Africa, Sherifa Hady, said that HP appreciated the strong cooperation of Nigerian law enforcement to help protect customers from the inferior standards and potential risks of counterfeits in Nigeria, “People who buy counterfeit cartridges and other fake merchandise believe mistakenly that they’re receiving original products, and they deserve the high quality and performance for which they’re paying.”
Hady informed that from several reports she had read and seen, statistics had shown that illegal importation and counterfeiting of Information Technology products including hardware and software in the Nigeria’s economy had caused the country a whopping $225m (about N33bn) economic loss in the past years.
She said that while there had been tremendous growth in the ICT industry in African with Nigeria and other countries in the sub-Sahara leading in technology adoption to speed up their economic development, the issue of counterfeiting remained the ‘one of the most serious problems affecting the continent.
“In Nigeria, available records have indicated that about 82 per cent of software and other accessories running on computers are pirated or not genuine and this represents about $225 million being lost in the Nigerian economy,” she said.
She added that depending on the country, counterfeit printing supplies were produced and distributed within the same country, or exported, adding that in some countries, infringers often run legitimate businesses with original printing supplies but, in parallel, distribute and sell counterfeit products.
She further said that the losses were incurred in the economy in form of tax revenues that were supposed to be accrued to the Nigerian government, urging Nigerian government to work with private IT organisations to stamp out the menace in the economy.
In a confirmation of the huge losses to counterfeiting in the Nigeria, the Assistant Director, SON, Mrs. Omolara Okunlola, said that in recent past, “SON has seized counterfeit products running into several trillions of Naira in the country.”
She, however, assured of SON’s readiness to ensure its presence in most of the major markets across Nigeria to be able to tackle the increasing product counterfeiting, which she also confirmed was ripping the country of fortunes in economic gains.
On a global scale, Pady added that reports by the World Customers Organisation and the International Chambers of Commerce which indicated that globally, countries lost about $775 billionn yearly, a five to seven per cent loss of global economy translating into a loss of over 2.5 million jobs.
“Alternatively, if counterfeiting and piracy could be eradicated or seriously reduced, up to 2.5 million jobs could be created in the legitimate economies all over the world.”
Hady informed that over the last four years, HP had assisted in the seizure of nearly nine million pieces of fake printing supplies products and components in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“Through its anti-counterfeiting programme, HP actively educates its customers and partners to be vigilant against fake printing supplies. It also cooperates closely with local and global law enforcement to detect and dismantle illegal operations that produce counterfeit HP printing components,” she stated.
According to her, globally, HP had conducted nearly 5,000 investigations in almost 90 countries over the last four years, resulting in the seizure of more than 30 million units of counterfeit cartridges and components over this same time period. She noted that investigations and actions had occurred on every continent except Antarctica, and any enforcement action was lead by either police (criminal) or an administrative organisation.
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