Kogi State Government has advised residents of the state to avoid eating cow meat for at least one week as 20 cows died mysteriously in Lokoja, the State Capital.
Director of Veterinary Services, Kogi Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Salau Tarawa, gave the advice at a Press conference on Thursday,
He said there was a possibility that the cows ingested poisonous substances while grazing, which could also affect human beings if consumed.
The director of Veterinary Services, also informed that beef from some of the cows was already in Lokoja markets, but had been recalled.
He observed that some of the cows had already been taken to markets in Osara in Adavi Local Government Area; to Ajaokuta, to Obajana, to Kotonkarfe, and to Kakanda for sale to members of the public.
Dr Tarawa further intimated that the ministry was collaborating with security agencies to bring the herders to question.
Also reacting to the development, the Head, Agro Rangers Unit, Kogi State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Bayode Emmanuel, said the cows were discovered in Lokoja.
“The cows emerged from the back of the state’s Secretariat complex where they had gone to graze. All of a sudden, they started behaving funny, slumped, and died within minutes.
“Upon interrogation, the herder said he was coming out with the cows after grazing when the incident happened,’’ he said.
The NSCDC boss assured that they would carry out a proper investigation to ascertain where the dead cows had grazed and also to prevent possible sale and consumption of the infected beef.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State government on Friday directed the burial of the carcasses of some of the 20 poisoned cows discovered on Wednesday in Lokoja.
The government also directed residents of Lokoja to stay off consumption of beef for seven days so as not to fall victim to some of the poisoned meat allegedly already in the market.
“What the government is able to bury today is a good number of the affected cows and not all of them,” an official said.
“The Agro Rangers Unit of the command alongside the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the Sanitation Board of the Ministry of Environment, have conducted a confirmatory test on the carcasses of the cows.
“The test result showed that the carcasses contained poisonous content and thereby inedible and not fit for human consumption.
“Consequently, the government is advising the residents of Kogi, particularly those within Lokoja, where the incident happened, to avoid consumption of cow meat in the next seven days,” he advised.
Madara quickly assured the public that the men of the command and other security operatives were doing everything possible to calm any form of tension that might arise from the unfortunate development.
He said that the command had sent out surveillance teams who were still maintaining peace in the environment as well as combatant officers in the event of any threat of reprisal attack to put the situation under control.
Also speaking, the Head, the Agro Rangers Unit of the NSCDC State Command, Mr. Bayode Emmanuel, said that the butchers association in the markets was carried along in the whole process of the investigation and examination of the carcasses to the burial of the cows.
Emmanuel explained that the carcasses of the cows recovered were subjected to the prescribed standard of treatment before they were buried which was witnessed by all the relevant stakeholders.
0
0
