The coordinator said the impounded steel bars did not meet the required specification and standard in terms of length, dimension and even the mass per meter. "We have come out now on surveillance activity and surprisingly we found out that most of the steel bars being sold are not in line with requirement of the NIS standards.

"That is why we have asked them to hold on, to stop sale, we want to go back and find out from the manufacturers, why they are feeding the markets with substandard steel bars. "When we have resolved that, then we know precisely what to do, but we believe that the traders are aware that the bars are of poor quality but they refuse to come and complain.

"They should be in a position to protect consumers from such inferior products. They should not just be interested in money and profit making," he said. Some of the traders who spoke anonymously with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that they brought the steel bars directly from the manufacturers. They argued that it was not their fault that the steel bars were found to be inferior to appropriate standards.

"We pay for these goods through the bank and we get our goods delivered to us, we do not know if what we have been given is of less quality. "We should not be punished for what is clearly not our fault; SON should go to the manufacturers of these products and monitor what they produce daily, constant monitoring is what the manufacturers need.

"Another thing is the price regulation, the prices of steel bars is irregular, the manufacturers increase price at any time, because there is no price control," the trader said. The traders also urged government to look into the activities of steel bar manufacturers in monitoring and price regulation.