Butchers in Niger State now inject animals with steroids – Commissioner

As the population of people increases, the Niger State Government on Wednesday decried the circulation of contaminated meats across the state, saying butchers now inject animals with steroids.

While saying the use of veterinary drugs in food producing animals has the potential to generate residues, the State Commissioner for Livestock and Fisheries, Zakari Bawa, said butchers and rearers now induce animals with steroids before slaughtering them.

Bawa said at the post state executive council press briefing: “Government discovered that some scrupulous element are inducing and slaughtering contaminated animals.

“This is due to the rise in population.

“Because of the increase in consumption, these wicked people have started using drugs, especially antibiotics and crude methods, in the animals.

“Our statistics in the state show that between 800 and 1,000 each of cattle, sheep and goats and over 5,000 chickens are slaughtered daily.

“Ideally, Veterinary Drugs or Veterinary Medicinal Products are critically needed to meet the challenges of providing adequate amounts of food.

“The use of veterinary drugs in food producing animals has the potential to generate residues, which could pose a risk to consumer health.

“The inducing of these animals pose grave and dangerous health hazards to the consumer and increases the cost of human health care due to problems of drug resistance by infections disease causing organisms.”

Bawa further disclosed that drugs used in food animals can affect the people because of their secretion in edible animal tissues in amounts usually called residues, with either direct and short term hazards or indirect and long term hazards.

Furthermore, the Commissioner of Information, Danjuma Sallau, while saying that the government has embarked on sensitisation, warned that anyone found wanting will be fined N500,000.

Sallau said government frowns at the reduction of produces from 80kg bags to 50kg quantity.