Eight people have been arrested by the Gombe State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for allegedly selling meat of dead animals for consumption by the unsuspecting public.
The suspects were paraded at the State’s Command Headquarters of the Gombe NSCDC by the State Commandant, Muhammad Mu’azu.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SC Buhari Sa’ad while speaking, said that the Command arrested the leader of the syndicate, Mary Paul along with four others in the first instance, and later arrested three more in connection to the crime.
According to him, “We got to know about their illicit acts through actionable intelligence and our Men were able to arrest the gang, being led by a lady known as Mary Paul of Mami Market, Gombe.”
He further said that the suspects were arrested at Kasuwar Tare Bypass, Gombe where they usually sell the meat in the state and to other Southern states, especially Delta.
Sa’ad further said that Mary and her team usually get the meat and process it for unsuspecting members of the public who are unaware that the meat is from a dead animal.
The PRO also said that the gang members were arrested with a dead cow they bought from Kanawa in Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area, disclosing that the Command has already buried the dead animal in the outskirts of Gombe metropolis.
Sa’ad said upon completion of the investigation, the suspects will be charged in a court of law.
He, however, called on the public to beware of the kind of meat they buy, where and from whom, assuring that the Command is ever ready to clamp down on criminals and ensure Gombe remains a less criminal state.
In an interview with newsmen, the lead suspect, Paul said that she used to sell bush meat, and has spent years in the illegal dead meat business.
She disclosed that she normally used chemicals to process and preserve the meat so that it will not rot until it gets to the final users anywhere in the country.
Paul, however, expressed sombre over the situation promising never to engage in it again.
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