Ogun State Government Alerts Residents on Killer 'Ponmo' in Markets
Ogun
State Government yesterday, called the attention of residents to the
sale of poisonous cow skin, popularly called 'ponmo', in markets across
the state.
The state government, on Thursday November 5, alleged that ‘some
unscrupulous businessmen’ attempting to exploit the current scarcity of
cattle hide and skin used in preparing the ponmo’ have resorted to
selling industrial hide and skin treated with tanning chemicals to
unsuspecting members of the public.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun who
addressed a press conference on the sale of the unhealthy and dangerous
‘ponmo’, revealed that such cattle hides and skin had been treated with
tanning chemicals used for the production of leather, and so, are unfit
for human consumption.
She however stated that the state Ministry of Agriculture and the
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)
had already commenced investigation into the development and had been on
the trail of the importers of the unhealthy ‘ponmo’.
The commissioner also disclosed that the officials of the ministry
had been in ‘strategic liaisons’ with the state Ministry of Health and
the Environmental Health Departments of the 20 local government areas to
confiscate the unhealthy ‘ponmo’ from all markets in the state.
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