Onne Port

By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt.

Health experts in Rivers State are raising apprehension on the hazardous implications of the poor disposal of seized contaminated poultry products by Customs Onne Command and the National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration, NAFDAC, and Control of poor disposal of the contaminated chicken in Onne.

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA in Rivers State has raised alarm that the Nigeria Customs Service, Onne Command and officials of the National Agency for Foods, Drug, Administration and Control NAFDAC in Port Harcourt to be ready take responsibility for the excavation of the poorly disposed contaminated chickens by some residents of Eleme and its environs last weekend.

Dr Furo Green, the NMA Chairman in Rivers State, stated this in reaction to an alarm raised by some concerned residents of the area that contaminated chicken carelessly buried at a dump site along the Refinery Road in Onne have been excavated for consumption and commercial purpose by members of the host community of the dump site.

“They should have spayed inflammable materials on the products and set them ablaze to burn beyond recognition so that they will be useless to the villagers”

Dr GREEN lamented that those who publicly carried the destruction exercise did a very poor and unprofessional job by failing to complete the destruction of contaminated poultry products before leaving them at the dump site.

“When the contaminated products are consumed they trigger up diseases like Cancer-related diseases and others”-Dr Green.

Of great concern to the NMA Chairman in Rivers State, DR. FURO, is the fear of an outbreak of epidemic if the contaminated poultry products find their way into the market and consumed by people.

Also concerned is the State Director, National Orientation Agency, Oliver Worlubom, who also picked holes in the manner in which the Customs command disposed the contaminated chicken last weekend.

“From the video clips, we saw villagers carrying untouched cartons of the products. Those people are not taking to their houses for domestic consumption. They will definitely send them to the market for sale”,Worlubom.

Calls made to the Onne Customs Command for reaction to the allegations on the hazardous implications of poor disposal of contaminated poultry products did not get response as at press time.

Onne is the host community of Federal Ocean Terminal, FOT and Federal Lighter Terminal, FLT and Onne port, which is one of the deepest ports in Country but is prone to smuggling of goods.