Eighty-million-naira worth of imported fake Kiwi polish were on Thursday burnt to ashes in Awka, following an order of the Federal High Court sitting in the Anambra State capital.
The judgement, by Justice I. B Gafai, was obtained by owners of Kiwi patent, AC Johnson and Sons Incorporated, through a Nigerian company, ASCO Investments Limited.
Mr. Tagbo Anieto, who is the Counsel to ASCO Investments Limited, while accompanying officials of AC Johnson and ASCO Investments to the destruction site at the Agu Awka area of the state capital, said that the fake products were confiscated from the warehouses of an unnamed company and some businessmen in Onitsha.
He explained that his clients got an order to invade suspected markets to identify the products and confiscate them.
Anieto regretted that the existence of the fake products has taken a toll on Kiwi product which has dominated the world over as a quality product.
While assuring that all the suspects would be dutifully prosecuted, he said that the criminal aspect of the matter was still pending in court.
On his part, the Chairman and managing director of ASCO Investments, Chief Sam Anyanwutaku, hailed the court for giving the order to destroy the fake products.
He decried a situation whereby some unscrupulous businessmen imported counterfeit products of an existing brand, thereby rendering genuine businessmen bankrupt.
He added: “Although it costs me millions of naira and a lot of stress to wage the battle against faking of Kiwi products, I chose to fight it to a logical conclusion because it was undermining people’s trust on the original Kiwi polish.
“I call on businessmen whose products were faked in the country to join hands in fighting the menace. Faking would reduce considerably if serious attention is paid to it.”