Two persons in charge of a cold room at Garki International market have been arrested for allegedly selling rotten chickens to buyers.
They were arrested by the officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration after several complaints from victims in the territory.
The Head, Monitoring and Enforcement Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Kaka Bello, who led security agents with officials of the board to the market on Friday, also said the public complaints commission lodged complaints about the development to his agency.
Bello said there were reports of people also selling decayed meat in the territory, warning that the board would come down hard on any one found selling or involved in unwholesome acts.
He said, “We have been receiving reports from victims, the market management and the public complaints commission on sales of unhealthy chicken. We have been going round to talk about environmental issues generally. We are here to talk about environmental health issues.
“The board received information of stock-pilled chicken and meat which has already decayed and unfortunately those operating the cold room are selling them to the public, and are not good for human consumption. Before we came here, the meat had been evacuated, according to the people we saw operating the cold room.
“So, we have taken the two persons operating the cold room into custody for more findings to make sure that the rotten meat is not transported to another place for sale. We want to know where it has been evacuated to. If they destroyed it, we want to see where that was done. We want to be sure that it is not transported to other markets for sale. This is for the public to know that such an act is not allowed in the Federal Capital Territory. Basically, we know that they have been selling these things before the market management and public complaints commission got to know about it and alerted us.
Bello said those arrested would be charged to court after completion of investigation. He added, “We are going to charge them to court after necessary investigations are concluded, and they will pay for their sins. People cannot come to the market to buy what to eat for their good health, and buy rotten items. This is unacceptable.’’
