As preparations intensify for the Eid-al-Adha celebrations, the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA) has issued a strong warning against the use of tyres for skinning sacrificial animals, citing serious health and environmental risks.
In an exclusive interview with our correspondent, the director general of BASEPA, Dr Mahmud Muhammad Bose, reaffirmed the agency’s ban on the harmful practice, which has become a common but dangerous method during Sallah festivities.
Dr Bose stressed that burning tyres to process animal hides releases toxic chemicals, including heavy metals and carcinogens, which pose a direct threat to human health and contribute significantly to environmental degradation.
“Using tyres to roast animal skin is not only hazardous to the people consuming the meat but also to those inhaling the fumes and the broader ecosystem,” he warned.
“We cannot allow such a harmful tradition to continue unchecked.”
He noted that despite repeated awareness campaigns, the practice persists in parts of the state during religious festivities. BASEPA, he said, is doubling down on public education and enforcement efforts ahead of the Eid celebrations.
He said environmental health officers will be deployed across abattoirs, markets, and designated slaughtering grounds to monitor compliance. Offenders, he cautioned, will face appropriate sanctions.
Dr Bose appealed to religious leaders, community heads, and butchers’ associations to support the campaign by promoting safe and hygienic alternatives to tyre burning, such as firewood or gas.
“Celebrating Eid should not come at the cost of our health or the future of our environment. Let’s honour the spirit of the season responsibly,” Dr Bose said
He urged residents to report violations to the nearest agency office as part of a broader push to ensure a cleaner, safer Eid al-Adha in Bauchi State.
