Tunde Oyekola
The Kwara State government has directed a temporary shutdown of the abattoir at Mandate Market in Ilorin, Ilorin West Local Government Area following the alleged sale of poisonous cow meat.
In a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Environment, Dr Abubakar Ayinla on Sunday, an immediate general cleaning and fumigation of the abattoir was ordered to avoid further contamination by the suspected poisoned cow meat.
According to the ministry, the abattoir would remain shut until Wednesday.
PUNCH Healthwise reported that following widespread panic over the reported death of 33 cows as a result of poison and whose meat was allegedly put on sale at the Mandate Market, Ilorin, the state capital, the Kwara State Government called for calm as investigation commences.
It was noted that a group tagged, ‘Kwara Monitoring Group (KMG)’, in an unsigned statement issued on Sunday, April 21, 2024, called the attention of the Commissioners for Environment and Health, and the Kwara Environmental Protection Agency, to take urgent action to prevent the poisoned meat from being sold to the unsuspecting public.
Reacting to the claim, the State Government in a statement titled, ‘Kwara govt team arrives Mandate market, confiscates suspected beef’, jointly signed by the Commissioners for Health and Agriculture, Dr. Amina El-Imam and Toyosi Thomas Adebayo respectively, it was noted that the government team had gone to the said market to confiscate the alleged poisoned meat.
The statement read, “Kwara State Government officials and experts have arrived at the Mandate Market in Ilorin to activate measures to protect the public amid rumours of poisoned cow meat.
“On the team were the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Toyosi Thomas-Adebayo; Commissioner for Health Dr. Amina Ahmed El-Imam; officials from the Ministry of Environment, including the Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency, Mrs Folorunsho Idayat, and officials from the Ministry of Health including the Permanent Secretary, Alhaja Afusat Ibrahim, and the Director of Public Health Dr. Oluwatosin Fakayode, among others.
“The government has immediately confiscated all the suspected meats for laboratory tests and confirmation of claims after initial engagements with the Mandate Market stakeholders.
“Further information will be given as may become necessary. The government urges members of the public to be calm while the team establishes the truth of the rumour of poisoned meat. It also commends the leadership of the market for their cooperation so far. members of the public to be calm.”
Meanwhile, Ayinla explained that the decision to temporarily shut the market was part of the efforts to protect members of the public after a non-governmental organisation, Kwara Monitoring Group, raised the alarm about the poisoned meat.
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