Three men who were alleged to have openly paraded themselves as officials of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) have been dragged before a federal high court and slapped with amended charges for impersonation and conspiracy to extort.

The defendants Simon Ezeji, Christopher Nwaeze, and Balogun Olayinka had on August 21, 2018 allegedly pretended to be SON officials and stopped three container trucks at Alakija area near FESTAC Town with the intention to extort. They stopped the trucks under the guise of checking that the goods they were carrying complied with mandatory industrial standards for imported products.

While presenting the 8-count criminal charge, Chief State Counsel for the federal ministry of justice Mrs Amaka Allen-Ngbale averred further that the three imposters demanded SONCAP and customs documents from the owners of the trucks.

She affirmed that the three men were caught while trying to present a convincing identity as Inspectorate and Compliance staff of SON. The offence is punishable under sections 408, 19, 484, 518 and 518 of the Criminal Code Act CAP C39 Laws of the Federation 2004.