THIRTY tonnes of poisonous hides and skin popularly known as Ponmo have been seized from unscrupolous traders, Lagos State Commissioner of Agriculture Oluwatoyin Suarau said yesterday.
Officials of the ministry, State Task Force on Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit and the police made the seizure from an illegal processing factory at College Road, Igando on Saturday.
Suarau said the special raid in which the factory owners were arrested followed a tip-off by people, who have been perceiving stench from the building.
The Nation on Saturday exclusively reported on April 27 that a syndicate dealing in poisonous Ponmo was operating at Igando.
Suarau said the factory’s operation posed health and environmental hazard to all.
Also seized, he said, was a Jamaican rubber used in roasting the Ponmo. The rubber emits thick toxin smoke, which spreads to the neighbourhood, Suarau said, adding that the smoke and the unhygienic method of processing the cow skin were harmful.
He said his ministry has set up a monitoring and investigation committee headed by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya, to know the source of the Ponmo and close the factories and illegal abattoirs where they are being processed.
“The committee will work with government agencies to locate other illegal Ponmo processing factories and abattoirs, which activities pose danger to the public”, the commissioner said.
He appealed to federal government agencies in charge of border patrol to step up their activities to prevent smuggling of poisonous food and food products.
“We will not relent on our oars to ensure that only hygienic meat and meat products are available at our abattoirs and markets. I use this medium to warn operators of illegal abattoirs and Ponmo processing factories to desist or face the wrath of the law,” Suarau said.
He advised the public to be vigilant and report the sale of unwholesome food and food products to the nearest local government office or his ministry.
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