…Officials, experts trade blame
By Christian Nwokocha, Sunday Agbo, Patrick Egwu, Phil Okose & Ifunanya Uzoeghe
The people of South-Eastern states are currently gripped with fear over the sordid and unhygienic state of abattoirs located in the geo-political zone.
Orient Daily investigations reveal that residents and consumers of beef and assorted meats of Ogbeukwu in Idemili South Local Government of Anambra State, their counterpart in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Ariaria market a suburb in Aba, Abia State, Owerri and Enugu and other locations across the south-eastern states, where abattoirs are located share similar concerns over the health hazards posed by these slaughter houses.
Orient Daily’s visits to some of the abattoirs across Igboland showed that many unsuspecting meat consumers across the major cities, townships and other communities that take regular delivery of products may have been eating unhygienic meats due to the awful condition of abattoirs and slaughtering slabs where they were processed.
Besides the issue of dirty abattoir environment which appeared to be deeply entrenched in the Nigerian system, there is equally concern over the health of animals butchered in some of these abattoir, the unhygienic exposure of meats during the killing and butchering processes up to transportation to various markets.
Commercial meat transporters and porters daily head to various markets to supply butchered meats to customers in rickety commercial vehicles, dirty wheel barrows, motorcycles, tricycles, large basins and even on shoulders. Perhaps, what many do not know is that the unhygienic meats in flight might end up in their pots or plates.
Anambra State
Ogbeukwu abattoir, Orient Daily investigation showed, topped the chat in the ranking of filthy slaughter facilities in the Onitsha metropolis and suburbs. On a typical day after the rush hours of animal slaughtering and meat processing, a visitor to the facility is assaulted by offensive odour oozing out of the abattoir or welcomed by swarm of flies that regularly feast on remains of animals that dotted the dirty environment.
Indeed, not many a first-time visitor to the slaughter house usually survive throwing up when assaulted by the putrefied stench emanating from pool of dirty and stagnant water that filled the area or the gory sight of the charred animal gore and dung; mountain of refuse; missiles of flying bone fragments, innards and blood spatter as well as feasting flies.
Our findings show that butchers and other abattoir workers at such facilities hardly follow the slaughterhouse rules, such as wearing hand gloves, dedicated uniform or overall to distinguish and protect them according to task. They equally do not care about protecting the meat either. Cows and goats are usually slaughtered and processed almost at the spot of the blood, intestinal waste and dung of previous slaughters. Very few of the workers wear rubber boots; many of them are either in bathroom slippers or other flimsy soles while an even more daring breed wade barefooted in the sea of blood, dung and bone fragments.
“The fact is that if you decide to take time off to visit these abattoirs and see for yourself the kind of environment where these meats we all enjoy in our houses and restaurants are processed, you may stop eating meat because you will feel sick to the stomach after seeing the place and how they handle the animals and the meat,” a meat merchant at Onitsha relief market who gave his name as Ifeanyi disclosed.
On why he buys them and sells to unsuspecting consumers, Ifeanyi replied: “What do you want me to do? I’m a business man and my job is to buy my goods and sell to people that demand for it. It’s up to government to put the place in order and make sure that they handle the meats well”.
Besides their growing fears over the safety conditions of meats sold to unsuspecting consumers from the slaughter house, Orient Daily learnt that the lives of the residents in the area are in danger as result of the increasing health hazards they face due to constant assault of black smokes (carbon monoxide) and foul air in their houses.
According to sources, who reside in the areas where the abattoirs are located, some families who couldn’t withstand the stench and smoke emanating from the nearby slaughter house, had parked out of the area while those who could not afford to relocate are still trapped alongside property owners.
“The butchers keep burning tyres to treat goats without minding that those living around the slaughter ground are affected by the smoke and foul odour. We are treating malaria and other ailments almost every week because of the bad smoke we inhale”, laments a resident who identified herself as Miss Mmesoma Ukaoha.
Another resident, Chibuike disclosed that as a result of the smoke in the neighbourhood, he is forced to keep painting and repainting his apartment because of the soot the smoke drops on the walls. He doesn’t even feel comfortable in the house after the effort.
For Miss Chisom Ella, the government should chase the operators of the abattoirs away from people’s comfortable zones. “I think slaughter houses should be sited far away from residential houses because the odour that oozes from there is nothing to write home about, they make life uncomfortable for people living nearby”, she stressed.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Anambra State Butchers Association, Chief Felix Obuchukwu Ikenga, has denied allegations that some abattoirs in the state are dirty and should be sealed.
Ikenga while responding to allegations on the state of abattoirs in Onitsha area even boasted: “hold me responsible for any dirty abattoir seen in the state”.
“There is no dirty abattoir in the state but if you know tell me where it is. People who wash the 35 slaughter houses in the state are being paid through the chairmen of the various slaughter houses scattered in the state” he stated.
The Anambra butchers boss claimed that his regime has sanitised the system and restored abattoir facilities to globally acceptable standard. His words: “If some were dirty before I came in, no one is dirty since I became the state chairman for about six years plus now. I have finished my first tenure of four years and I was re-elected for second tenure which I have stayed for two years plus now.
“We have water boreholes in each of the 35 approved abattoirs and the state government dug the boreholes for us. So, whoever says that the abattoirs are not clean is only trying to tarnish our image. I inspect the slabs of the slaughter houses every three months. Those that need government attention, I recommend to the Hon. Commissioner for Agriculture, Afam Mbanefo, and if it is the one he will repair he repairs and if it is not he will give us money to repair it”.
The Chairman of United Butchers, Onitsha Main market, Mr. Jude Okoli corroborated the state chairman, saying, “our sis even the neatest and best abattoir in the Southeast.
“We kill mature cows here in the main market. We don’t talk of neatness because we are more than neat, and you can see it because you are physically here at the abattoir. It is well equipped by the colonial masters that built it, channelling the water from the slab to the River Niger.
“I installed a borehole, renovated the building and iron barriers were also installed to prevent the cows from plunging into the river. We don’t kill cows that are not inspected by the government.”
According to him, as part of effort to ensure that meats supplied to the markets meet our standard, “we impound any meat slaughtered outside this abattoir because the cow may not be inspected for disease and we don’t slaughter donkeys here.”
However, investigations by this paper show that the claims of upholding sanitary standard at the abattoirs is largely on paper as those involved in the daily routine of meat butchering, hardly pay attention to laid down rules or sanitary procedures.
A butcher, who craved for anonymity for fear that he could lose his job if he tells the truth, confessed that some of them suffer health hazards due to exposure to the filthy environments.
“The environment is not conducive for us at all, people pour trash in our slaughter ground and we too suffer frequent health problems. We have even gone to the extent of making a law that no one should pour trash there or defaulters pay an amount of money as fine, yet it didn’t bring the desired solution to the problem. Concerning the smoke that comes out while burning goats for sale, we don’t have any other place or option other than that. If government will provide a better place for us, better,” he said.
Patricia Chukwura, health and sanitary inspector from Idemili South Local Government Area, where one of the odious abattoirs that serve Onitsha metropolis is located, claimed that they try to educate butchers and management of the facility on the importance of cleanliness and carrying out their jobs in healthy environment.
She, however, did not explain why the council or the state government has not sealed the facility for their inability to meet the required sanitary standard.
Ebonyi State
Ebonyians have called on the state government to expedite action in the completion of the meat market under construction by the Governor David Umahi-led administration.
Orient Daily spoke with some butchers at the popular Gariki meat market where the state cemetery is located opposite Ogoja. They urged the Umahi administration to provide a befitting place for them.
A woman, who deals on cow meat at slaughter house Gariki, Mrs. Ifenyinwa Ugoeze, expressed satisfaction with the condition of the abattoir but called for the slaughter house to be separated from the cemetery.
She also called on the relevant government agencies to extend the ongoing water recirculation to the meat houses in the state, stating that the only factor that can aid the sanitary condition of abattoirs in the state is the provision of regular water supply.
“This remains one of the oldest slaughter houses in Abakaliki. Cattle are killed here every day, even goats. I cannot say the environment is not clean, but much need to be done both by government and the public to improve on the sanitary condition of the place.
“Under this condition, there are certain dirt you cannot avoid. Yes, the maggots are something we cannot avoid now. We thank the state government for building a new meat market. We believe that on the completion of the new meat market the sanitary condition will improve.
“I will humbly advise the Ebonyi State government to ensure that the new abattoir should be adequately provided with water. In fact, I urge the state to speed up action on the project because the cemetery and the slaughter house cannot be in the same place.”
A customer at the meat market, Mr. Ifeanyi Mbam, who spoke to Orient Daily said that it is God that has been protecting them from contracting diseases from the meat market.
“Our lives is in the hands of God. There is outbreak of disease every day. I think if death was to come because of what we see from the slaughter house environment, many of us and our children would have died.
“I think that people should not always wait for the government for everything. Hygiene is a personal thing. Those who use the slaughter house should also learn to keep it clean. It is a matter of attitude and mindset”, he noted.
At the meat house in the popular Effium market in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, the leader of the butchers, Mr. Okefi Solomon, called on the government to not only focus on the rebuilding of the meat market in the capital city, but also extend the gesture to the rural markets.
“We the butchers, want the government to help us provide everything we need in this slaughter house. Many people have used this slaughter house before I joined them. It is as old as Effium community, but no new facilities have been provided for it.
“We have many challenges here. We roast killed goats most often inside the slaughter house because there is no special area designated for it. The smoke during the roasting affects the roof. This weakens and destroys it.
“Sometime in the past, some officials from the Ebonyi State Ministry of Environment were here in Effium to assess the condition of the slaughter house following what the government called ‘imminent hazards’ in the slaughter house, but at the end of it, nothing was done. We hope that one day, Effium community will be remembered by the government, especially ensuring that our environment is kept clean”, he said.
Enugu State
Investigations by Orient Daily show that the current situation at some abattoirs in Enugu is a far cry from global best practice in slaughter houses. In Enugu for instance, the situation is not the same as some of the abattoirs visited have one hygienic lapse or the other.
At the Mami abattoir located at the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, the whole environment looked hygienic and clean as two cleaners were seen sweeping the slaughter area and washing tables used for butchering and processing of cow meat.
Every day, more than 30 cows are slaughtered at the abattoir as early as 8 am with buyers and consumers from within and beyond the metropolis trooping to the market to buy meat. Some of the buyers include restaurants, eateries, hotels, small chain sellers and housewives.
On weekends, patronage is usually high as the number of cows killed and processed are higher compared to those killed between Monday and Wednesday.
“The number is usually high on weekends,” said Chibuike Okenna, a butcher and meat seller at the abattoir. “Like today (Sunday), we butchered more than 30 cows and everything was sold off because people normally come in their numbers very early in the morning. But from Monday to Wednesday, the number is lesser because people don’t come to buy like on weekends,” he said.
On the sanitary and hygienic conditions of the abattoirs during the slaughter of cows, Chibuike said that the abattoir is always clean as two different set of cleaners are employed to wash the floor, tables, buckets, equipment and dispose of the cow dung at the end of each day’s business.
“As you can see now, the tables are clean even the floor where the cows are slaughtered were washed thoroughly. They (cleaners and washers) do it immediately the customers have concluded their transactions. If you come tomorrow early in the morning, you will see that here will be as clean as anything. That is the way we operate here,” he said.
Another butcher at the Mami abattoir who refused to give his name when asked about the hygienic level of the abattoir, said officials of the medical department of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army often embark on investigative and on-the-spot assessment visits to the scene where the cows are slaughtered to ensure that high level of hygiene is maintained.
“They (health officials) always come here to assess things for themselves and make sure that everything is in order. They ask us questions, take photographs and sometimes give us hand gloves to wear in processing the cows,” he said.
A public health expert in the state, Dr. Nnanna Obi, said the government should set up monitoring teams or sanitary agents for regular visit to abattoirs in the state as a way of ensuring high level of hygiene in those places.
“This call is very necessary because this has to do with what we eat and consume almost daily. If you visit some of these slaughter houses you will see what I am talking about. Some of them are just unhygienic and these can cause some health challenges to the public if urgent steps are not taken to ensure proper hygienic standards. The government through the Ministry of Health should take up this call urgently by setting up monitoring teams to visit and assess these abattoirs in the state,” he said.
The head of the butchers and abattoirs association refused to speak with our Correspondent, directing him to obtain a permit from the army hierarchy in the barracks.
However, investigations by Orient Daily showed that none of the butchers and other abattoir workers adhere to slaughterhouse rules and safety measures. None of them wore gloves, marked uniform or overall to distinguish and protect them while processing the cows.
At the slaughter house abattoir located along slaughter road in Nsukka, some of the butchers process the meat in unsanitary conditions. In some cases, they do not care about protecting the meat that customers buy either. Thus, cows are slaughtered and processed in the blood, intestinal waste and dung of previous slaughters.
Indeed, few workers wore rubber boots, many of them are in bathroom slippers while an even more daring breed wade barefooted in the sea of blood, dung and bone fragments.
“This place is nothing to write home about as you can see how unkempt this environment is,” said Nneoma Okechi, a customer who came to buy meat at the abattoir. We often complain to them but nothing is done. “This is just unlike the other abattoirs I visit whenever I travel,” she added. 
|
my stomach
