Two persons operating a cold room store at Garki International Market Abuja, have been arrested by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for allegedly selling rotten chicken to unsuspecting customers.
Kaka Bello, the head of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), perfected the arrest, following a tip-off from the market management and the Public Complaints Commission.
According to Bello: “We came here based on a report we received from the market management and the public complaints commission. We have been going around to talk about environmental issues generally, but today we are here to talk about environmental health issues.
“The board received information of stock pilled chicken and meat which has already decayed and unfortunately those operating the cold room are selling them to the public, and is not good for human consumption, before we came in here, the meat has been evacuated, according to the people we saw operating the cold room.
“So, we have taken the two persons operating the cold room into custody for more findings to make sure that the rotten meat is not transported to another place for sale. According to them, We want to know where it has been evacuated to, if they destroy it we want to see where it was done. We want to be sure that it was not transported to other markets for sale.
“This is for the public to know that such action is not allowed in the Federal Capital Territory, basically we know that they have been selling these things before the market management and Public Complaints commission get to know about it and alerted us.
“We are going to charge them to court after necessary investigations are concluded, and they will pay for their sins. People cannot come to the market to buy what to eat for their good health and buy rotten items. This is unacceptable” he said.
Nationnewslead recalls that the prices of chicken, eggs and other poultry products have gone up beyond the reach of average Nigerians.
While the consumers complain of a hike in the prices of meat products, the farmers involved in rearing the animals also complain about the high cost of feeding the birds.
Findings by our correspondent as of Friday, June 17, showed that broilers go for between N4000 to N5000 while the old layers go for between N3000 to N3500.
A crate of eggs also goes for between N2000 to N2400. Continue Reading
