Ololade Adeyanju/
Six suspects have been held by the police in Lagos after a truck-load of cowhide suspected to be poisonous was uncovered in Igando area of the state.
According to the Lagos State police spokesman, DSP Bala Elkana, the heap of cowhide, also known as Ponmo in local parlance was found in a warehouse at 9, College Road, Igando yesterday.
Elkana revealed that a team of police officers led by the Divisional Police Officer at Igando, CSP Taiwo Kasumu, mobilized to the scene after receiving information from a credible source.
Elkana, in a statement sent to NewsmakersNG, says: “The huge pillage and pyramid of poisonous Ponmo and the chemicals used in the preservation of the Cow skins were recovered. One TATA Truck with Registration number AKD-375-XB which was used in conveying the goods was impounded. Officials of Lagos State Ministry of Health were contacted and after due examination, the Cow skins were confirmed to be poisonous and NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.”
The arrested suspects were identified as 50-year-old truck driver – Adelowo Yinka of Ifelodun Street, Agric Road, Egan; Olawumi Onabanjo, 40, who lives at 3, Olunshabiko Street, Itere, Ogun State; Omowumi Wasiu, 43, who resides in Badagry; Adeshokan Taiwo, 43, of no fixed address; Iyabo Oluwa, 38, of Ifelodun Street, Ijegun, in Ikotun, and Taye Kazeem, 40, of 11, Disu Street, off Ijagemon Road, Ijegun, Ikotun.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Lagos State Command, Mr Zubairu Muazu has assured Lagos residents that the police are determined to continually protect life and property of the people as well as the preservation of Public Health and Safety as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Investigation is ongoing to ascertain the source and destinations of those poisonous food items. Suspects will be charged to Court,” Elkana stated.
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