The enforcement unit of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environment and Special Offences has arrested eight persons and confiscated dozens of cartons of contaminated turkey in the Epe area of the state.

The agency’s spokesperson, Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, who disclosed this on Sunday, said the Nigerian Customs Service seized the turkeys.

He said they had also been set ablaze at a dump site because they were contaminated and could cause a cholera outbreak.

Mr Abdulraheem noted that somehow, the contaminated turkeys found their way into the hands of unscrupulous elements trying to sell them to members of the public.

“Following tip-off from a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Rasheed Shabi and the Oloja of Epe, Oba Kamorudeen Animashaun, the officials of the Lagos State Task Force swung into action.

“The task force raided the shanties close to the dump site where the contaminated turkeys were said to have been destroyed and arrested eight suspects with some of the turkeys. Harmful weapons were recovered,” he said.

The spokesperson, who quoted Kamorudeen Animashaun, the traditional ruler of Epe, in his reaction to the arrest, said the community was happy for the swift response by the task force to check the contaminated products.

“We need not compound the issues; rather, it’s our responsibility to the citizenry to ensure sinister forces do not plunge the state into crisis for their selfish gains.

“The Nigeria Customs Service should always seek the support of sister agencies like the police, military, DSS and LAWMA when carrying out exhibit burning exercises.

“This is to avoid official compromise and ensure they are burnt beyond recovery by miscreants in the community,” the traditional ruler said.

(NAN)