The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
has warned Nigerians involved in the smuggling frozen chicken to desist from
doing so as it could bring back the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.
The warning was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by
the Federal Department of Animal Production and Husbandry Services.
The department noted that poultry products had continued to
find their way into local markets through several land borders despite the ban
on such products.
It quoted the USAID Agricultural Information Network as
reporting that 90 per cent of frozen chicken come in through Benin Republic and
other West African countries.
The department also blamed the decline in the consumption of
local chicken, loss of jobs provided by the poultry industry and decrease in
national income generated from the poultry sub-sector, on the illegal trade of
frozen chicken.
The department, while acknowledging that the sale of frozen
chicken had become a means of livelihood for some Nigerians, stated that its
continuous consumption posed a great health risk.
Some factors adduced by the ministry for its health risk
include the length of storage of frozen chicken before reaching Nigeria.
According to the ministry, the quality of chicken is usually
very low due to the break in cold chain during several hours of land journey to
Nigeria through illegal routes.
The Agriculture Ministry also identified the absence of
quality certification or standard of instruments used as another source of
health risk.
Besides the above factors, the recent outbreak of Ebola in
some West African countries had shown that the handling of these products could
transmit the disease, the ministry said in the statement.
It said that people handling these frozen chicken are
unknown and as such, there are no checks on the storage facility and the mode
of transportation.
It warned that Nigerians should not assume that all affected
West African countries have achieved 100 per cent tracking and control of EVD
as Nigeria had done.
“It is on this note that the Federal Department of Animal
Production and Husbandry Services is calling on Nigerians smuggling chicken to
desist from doing so.
“The department is also calling on the Nigerian Customs
Service to step up surveillance to further curb this illegal trade.
“Similarly, agricultural and health watchdogs must keep a
vigilant eye on poultry product to prevent contaminants in the product”, the
statement further said.
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