National president of the National Butchers Employers Union of Nigeria, Comrade Sunny Omokaro, has lamented that over 70 percent of slaughtered animals in abattoirs in Edo State are not inspected owing to the shortages of veterinary doctors.
He expressed worry that the development poses a great public health challenge to the people and appealed to the relevant authorities to salvage the situation.
Speaking in Benin City after visiting abattoirs in the state capital, Omokaro described the situation as dire.
“It is a clear and present danger. By law, no animal should be slaughtered for public consumption without thorough pre-slaughter and post-slaughter inspection by a veterinary doctor. Sadly, in Edo State today, this law is being violated daily because the state has only eight veterinary doctors – four in the field and four confined to office duties,” he said.
He stressed that the absence of veterinary oversight could have catastrophic consequences, warning that in the event of a meat-borne epidemic, it would be impossible to trace the source due to the lapses in inspection.
“In the past, veterinary doctors were stationed permanently at abattoirs, supervising the entire slaughter process from start to finish. Now, they are hardly seen, and the abattoirs are left in the hands of butchers and health officers who are often overwhelmed or untrained,” he noted.
Omokaro also decried the deteriorating state of slaughterhouses in the state, accusing local government councils of negligence and complicity by granting licenses to individuals without proper facilities or professional training.
“The law is clear, but the authorities are looking the other way. The local governments collect revenue daily from these abattoirs, yet they ignore the rot and the looming disaster. They must wake up to their responsibilities, ensure the presence of veterinary doctors in all abattoirs, and stop licensing unqualified operators,” he stated.
He called on the Edo State government to urgently recruit more veterinary doctors and deploy them to all slaughterhouses, warning that failure to act could result in a public health crisis.
“The time to act is now. Government must take this matter seriously before we face an outbreak that could have been prevented,” he warned.
