DEJI LAMBO investigates roasting of cow skin, popularly known as ponmo by processors in Lagos markets, who use tyres, plastics and disused engine oil thereby exposing millions of Nigerians who consume cowhide to toxic chemicals reportedly capable of causing serious health conditions like cancer and sudden deaths.
These men are ponmo processors. They were preparing the ponmo for the hordes of traders that contracted them to do the illicit trade. These traders would soon hit the markets with the poisonous cow skin for onward delivery to the food sellers, traders and families who come to the market daily to buy ‘fresh’ ponmo.
After paying preliminary visits and observing all that these ponmo processors did to keep their business secret, our correspondent decided to disguise as a university student researcher to gain access to their operational base where ponmo is processed with plastic, tyres and a black oil substance that some people say was used engine oil.
“My customers like ponmo more than meat,” she said, while she was busy attending to customers, including our correspondent, who were buying rice, beans, noodles and ponmo. “My children like ponmo a lot, and it is very cheap. I buy meat and fish, but our meals are not complete without ponmo,” the mother of three said.
During our correspondent’s investigations, he found a few places where ponmo is processed with firewood, which experts say is also a dangerous contaminant but less dangerous than plastic, engine oil and tyres. “The brown ponmo is achieved through roasting with fire. We set firewood on fire and place a net-like iron on the lit firewood. Without scraping the hair on the cow’s skin, we place it on the iron and roast it for about 30 minutes to remove the hair.
While walking around the market, our correspondent noticed that most of the brown ponmo processing spots in the markets did not have firewood stacked near the open ovens. Intermittently, Sunday was also seen using a bowl to scoop a black watery oily substance from a bucket and pouring the same on the burning tyre roasting the cowhide.
Bunches of wicked souls from top to the bottom
Apart from gas flaring in Rivers state d major source of soot their is d burning of vehicle tyres in processing cow hide (ponmo) inside city
Thank God, I don't have money to buy meat
If using tire flames to roast ponmo or goat meat is poisonous, then everyone would be dead before now cos thats what Lagosians use and have always used.. Na him even dey make the ponmo curl and sweet ☺️😜
This is one of the reason I don't blame those who doesn't eat ponmo.
It's very sad. Many would ingest cancerous substances through this.
Just say roasting with those chemicals are bad...to consumers are 'unsuspecting' is suspicious. They roast these things in the open and both traders and consumers see it. It's been like that since nàmí ń nalẹ̀. No cause for control everything is under alarm.
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