2 warehouses with suspected substandard wheat sealed at Kano market

By Muhammad Ahmad

The authorities of Dawanau International Market, Kano State on Wednesday vowed to sanction traders involved in the sale of substandard grains or any food items.

SolaceBase reports that the decision to wield the big stick came against the backdrop of the interception of over 50 containers of unwholesome products from the market that were rejected by some international customers.

Consequently, during a sting operation by market officials in collaboration with Farm Produce Inspection Service, two warehouses with about 2,000 bags of wheat suspected to be substandard were sealed.

The market officials disclosed that the association has set up a committee to identify and fish out the culprits for necessary sanctions and prosecution.

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The association’s President, Muntaka Isa said the group has sought the assistance of the relevant government agencies such as federal ministries of Trades and Investment, Police Authorities, Health and Justice to work with the association’s Quality Control Committee at the market for necessary action.

“Our hearts are pure; whenever we discover any substandard or harmful product in the market, we clear it off from the market.

“Apart from that, we also trace the sources of substandard products found in order to stop subsequent smuggling of the products into the market.

“We are going to take action, by sanctioning the perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others. And if anyone is given substandard items without his consent, they have the right to file a complaint before the commission and as well trace the source of the products to demand a refund of their money,” Isa said.

The market’s BoT head, Abdullahi Maidoya vowed: “We shall not fold our arms and watch a few selfish and unpatriotic individuals tarnish the good image and reputation of our market built over the years.”

He added that the Association intends to embark on an intensive enlightenment and mobilisation campaign of traders in the market on the dangers of engaging in such evil crimes.

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Maidoya called on well-meaning marketers and traders of grains and other foodstuffs to expose or report anybody found involved in the unwholesome act of bringing substandard food items to the market to harm consumers.

Operatives of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) who were on hand took samples of the products suspected to be substandard to test their quality through the laboratory.

“We have come, we have seen and sampled the products. We shall send to the laboratory and wait for results and write our report. If the products are fine, they would be allowed in the market, if the result is otherwise we shall go ahead and carry out destruction,” Kano State Coordinator of NAFDAC, Kasim Ibrahim, said.