Ponmo, made from Cowskin is a popular delicacy across Nigeria, particularly the southern part of the West African country.
Every home and every restaurant you visit in any part of the country, is likey to have Ponmo on their menu list.
In past few days, millions of Nigerians who before now enjoyed Ponmo in their daily meals, have been very careful with one of their favourite food accompaniment.
This is because of the news that poisonous Ponmo had flooded the markets.
Last week, Police in Lagos arrested six dealers of Ponmo, suspected to be in possession of poisonous cow skin, but they say the prime suspect was still at large.
The suspects were arrested in Igando, -a Lagos suburb while they were offloading a truckload of contaminated cowskins. Police say they used poisonous chemicals to preserve the Ponmo.
A resident of Igando, Babatunde Alaseyori told this reporter that the arrested suspects have been dealing in the business for many years. He said in order for them to preserve the cowskins and maximize profits, they apply all manners of chemicals, including those used in the embalmment of corpses, as preservatives for the Ponmo.
He said “This is not a new thing. They [the suspects] have been in the business for a while, using these same poisonous chemicals that they have been arrested for, now.
“The cowskin they sell, is not originally meant for human consumption; they were prepared for use as leather for things like bags, belt and so on. The leather has been treated with chemicals such as formalin and slake lime otherwise known as calcium hydroxide, which is an alkaline chemical that is also Castrogenic and harmful to humans.
“They really do not care about the harmful effects. They are only interested in the profits” Babatunde said.
According to medicineNet, an authoritative web portal on medicine, Formalin is a chemical composition used as an antiseptic, disinfectant, and especially today as a fixative for histology (the study of tissues under the microscope). It is used in the embalmment of dead humans and animals.
Dr Ezekiel Ige is a lab scientist in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos. He explained that the makers of the poisonous Ponmo apply those chemicals to the cowskin in order to make it last longer and preserve its freshness for unsuspecting consumers.
“The objective is to make sure that the Ponmo does not get spoilt easily. Formalin, for an instance is an active agent in the preservation of flesh and the cowskin being sold have the tendency of getting stale in a short while and thereby causing some loses for the dealers. So, to prevent such, they resort to embalment.” He said.
Although, six persons are in police custody for this criminal act, Nigerians still express fear about the ponmo in the market, as many have vowed not to have anything to do with ponmo any longer.
