Four cows and 37 butchers have been arrested by officials of the
Lagos State Government in conjunction with the police taskforce, for
operating at an illegal slaughter slab at Otto Awori area of Badagry,
Lagos State.
Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, with the
taskforce, stormed the area on Tuesday and arrested the cows and
suspects.
Four vans of butchered meat were also carted away to the Taskforce
office at Alausa where the suspects would be arraigned in court. The
four cows were taken to Agege Abattoir.
Chairman of the illegal butchers, Adewunmi Olaseun, said they
normally slaughter about 20 cows on daily basis, adding that they also
pay N18,000 levy to officials of the Lagos State Government and N5,000
to the Otto Awori Local Council Development Area, LCDA, on weekly basis.
He said the association did not know that they were operating at an illegal slaughter slab.
Olaseun said the meat being sold by the butchers was not
contaminated, stressing that “the fact is that we also consume the meat
at times. So, there is nothing wrong with the meat. We consume it. Our
wives also consume it, so it is safe for consumption. We have the
receipts of the payment made to the government in our office.”
When asked why they attacked government officials with charms, he
said: “The charms on us were to protect us against armed robbers. We
deal with money and we can’t allow robbers to kill us just like that.
So, it is meant for protection against robbers.”
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