Frozen chicken causes kidney disease – Minister

The Federal Government has warned against the consumption of frozen chicken, saying it causes kidney and other diseases. The Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri, told State House correspondents in Abuja yesterday that the warning was given at a meeting between the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and the president of the Poultry Farmers’ Association of Nigeria, Mr Ayoola Oduntan.

The minister noted that many Nigerians got kidney diseases from consuming frozen chicken, saying “Most times, they use what they use to preserve dead bodies (to preserve frozen chicken) and it causes harm to the kidney.”

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Ahmed Ali.

Lokpobiri said the meeting specifically charged the Nigeria Customs Service to improve its surveillance to stop importation of frozen chicken. He said those hoarding maize were doing so at their own peril, as the government “will not buy. What we’ve is a programme that’ll deliberately grow more maize which will satisfy local and international markets.”

The minister disclosed that Nigeria had demands from Algeria and other nations to grow over two million metric tonnes of maize.