TheCable

The federal government has warned Nigerians against the consumption of meat from dead animals.

In April, the Kwara state government temporarily shut down the abattoir at Mandate market in Ilorin following reports of the sale of meat from cows reportedly killed due to poisoning.

The state government deployed a team of officials to the market for an investigation and seizure of the contaminated beef.

In a statement on Thursday, Temitope Fashedemi, the permanent secretary at the federal ministry of agriculture and food security, said a preliminary investigation revealed that the animals grazed on the forage fumigated with organophosphate chemicals before the incident.

He said all the confiscated meat from the slaughtered animals was disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.

He added that 40 suspected poisoned animals were treated with organophosphate antidotes, noting that they recorded an improvement in their health, leading to recovery.

The permanent secretary said public awareness of the danger of consuming the meat from affected slaughtered animals was also carried out immediately.

“There is danger in consuming unwholesome meat and other foods of animal origin contaminated with organophosphate,” the statement reads.

“Meat for human consumption should be purchased at registered, government- or private-approved spots such as abattoirs, slaughter slabs, and meat shops, among others.

“Such products must have been certified wholesome and fit for consumption by a registered veterinarian. Meat from dead animals is unwholesome and should not be consumed.

“With a withdrawal period of 14 to 21 days after injection, ingestion and/or application of drugs or chemicals to animals should be strictly observed before products from such animals are certified for consumption.

“People who may have a genuine reason to apply chemicals to open farmlands or fields should please notify their host communities to avoid grazing animals on such fields for at least one week.”