Nigeria destroys illegal poultry products
Nigerian custom services have taken a zero tolerance stance on smuggled poultry products and have destroyed around 20,000 cartons of illegal poultry products, worth N70 million (€330,000).
Poultry smuggling is thriving in Nigeria because demand for poultry products is high and local production can not meet the demand.
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) and Seme Command of the service which impounded the products have fortified the anti-smuggling team in an aim to reduce smuggling to the barest minimum.
“If smuggling stops, Nigeria stands to gain through job opportunities for the youths and there will be more food and we can export our poultry products to other countries,” the Public Relations Officer of the command, Ernest Olotta said.
The Secretary General, Shippers’ Association of Lagos State, Jonathan Nicol, reiterated the problem that the supply of poultry products has not met the demand.
“Smuggling is rampant, either because the supply to the mega hotels is high or because the ordinary man in the street does not have access to the few available local poultry products. The cost of buying chicken locally is twice the amount one buys from smugglers,” he said.
Nicol has urged the government to remove the ban placed on poultry products, adding that such a measure would reduce smuggling. Furthermore a maritime expert suggested that the government should also encourage local poultry farmers by granting soft loans to increase poultry and discourage smuggling.
