When the “sweet” ponmo you love becomes a serious health hazard
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If you are one of those Nigerians who cannot resist a steaming plate of pepper soup loaded with ponmo, or whose jollof rice feels incomplete without those thick, chewy pieces of cow skin — this story will make you pause before your next order.
A ponmo seller in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has been arrested and is set to face prosecution after an environmental sanitation inspection team made a deeply disturbing discovery at her processing center — buckets containing human feces.
Yes, you read that correctly.
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What Happened?
Officials from an environmental sanitation inspection team reportedly stormed the woman’s processing facility in Akure as part of what appeared to be a routine sanitation exercise. What they found, however, was anything but routine.
Hidden within the premises were buckets of human excreta — discovered in the same space where ponmo was being processed for sale to unsuspecting members of the public.
The seller was promptly arrested and authorities have confirmed that prosecution is imminent.
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Why This Should Concern Every Nigerian
Ponmo is not just food in Nigeria — it is culture. From the streets of Lagos Island to the bukkas of Kano, from Owerri pepper soup joints to Abuja restaurants, ponmo holds a special place in our national diet and our hearts.
But stories like this one remind us that what ends up on our plates does not always go through the clean, hygienic process we assume it does.
Processing cow skin involves soaking, scraping, and boiling — stages that, if carried out in unsanitary conditions, can introduce dangerous pathogens into the food. The presence of human feces in such an environment raises serious public health concerns, including the risk of:
– E. coli contamination
– Typhoid fever
– Cholera
– Hepatitis A
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A Wake-Up Call for Food Safety in Nigeria
This incident shines a harsh spotlight on the largely unregulated world of street food processing in Nigeria. Many processing centers operate in hidden or makeshift locations far from the prying eyes of health officials — and inspections like the one that caught this Akure seller are unfortunately not frequent enough.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and local environmental health authorities have long been tasked with ensuring food safety standards, but enforcement remains a significant challenge across the country.
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What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
While we cannot always control where our food comes from, here are a few practical tips:
1. Buy from reputable, visible vendors whose processing conditions you can at least partially observe.
2. Ensure ponmo is thoroughly cooked before consumption — heat kills many harmful bacteria.
3. Report suspicious food handling to your local environmental health office or NAFDAC.
4. Advocate for your community — push for regular sanitation inspections in your local markets.
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The Akure authorities deserve commendation for acting swiftly. But this case is likely not an isolated one. As Nigerians, we must collectively demand higher food safety standards — because the ponmo on your plate should bring nothing but enjoyment, not a trip to the hospital.
Stay informed. Stay safe. And maybe ask a few more questions about where your ponmo comes from.
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