By: Eben Enasco Kingsley (Benin City)
The Chairman Bushers Association of Nigeria, Edo State Chapter, Comrade Pastor, Ikponmwosa Orhue has debunked the speculations raving town over alleged contamination of cattle meat in the State abattoir.
This was disclosed to National Reformer correspondent during a visit to the state chairman over an alleged state of the chapter’s Abattoir.
Comrade Orhue told our correspondent that the alleged report was untrue and should be disregarded while urging members of the public to be conscious of how they react to mere speculations.
“That is not true that the Edo State Abattoirs are contaminated because before we slaughter any cattle, the vetinary inspectors are involved; more so, any meat that is not fit for consumptions are condemned immediately. The mode of processing is perfectly okay because we work in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Environment to ascertain the level of hygiene of the cattle and the facilities used for the meat. So the question of contamination is completely way of the mark and should be disregarded. They are mere speculations and people must be conscious of rumors”, he said.
However, Comrade Orhue harp on the need for consumers to be mindful of where they buy their meat, adding that most times the challenges of identifying the real cow meat has been very cumbersome due to influx of donkey (red meat) which is allegedly prohibited for consumption in the state.
According to him,”the challenge we face is the impersonation of cattle with donkey sellers. Though we are not responsible for the prohibition of the donkey meat, most times, these sellers tell the public is a cattle meat, but far from it. This is our major concern. There are cases we have arrested the perpetrators and handed over to the police for onward court action. Most time they get judgment over us in the court, and we have been told we have no basic skills to know or identify which one is a donkey or cattle. We have been sued for damage over this whole thing. Again the Ministry of Agriculture has always cry-wolf of not having enough manpower to subdue this whole thing”.
Pastor Orhue however, called on well meaning Edo citizens, general public, the government and all interest groups to help fish out those involved in impersonating cattle to make our abattoir more human friendly.
