By Idu Jude
With the recent resurgence of COVID-19 across the country and the observation that operators of abattoirs in the Federal Capital Territory are not observing the pandemic protocols, the attempt to curb the immediate spread of the disease in the nation’s capital may be in for more health challenges. Confirmed cases in August on the fourth wave, saw Lagos, Rivers State and FCT leading the pack of 15 most dreaded states. Whereas Lagos has 171 cases, Rivers has 155 and the FCT has 73.
In Nigeria, no fewer than 116, 655 persons have contracted the virus, leading to the death of 1,485 victims. It is, therefore, not surprising that the authorities are seeking measures to stop the virus. It would be recalled that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported among individuals who either visited or consumed food sold at the wet animal market in Wuhan, China in late December 2019. This is why the unhygienic condition of abattoirs in Nigeria, especially in Abuja, calls for serious concern. Recent reports of the coronavirus resurgence in the FCT should strongly indicate that the meat processing system and haulage need urgent attention. Butchers are more likely to encounter contaminated objects or surfaces and when they do, they may unknowingly infect themselves by touching their noses, mouth, or eyes with contaminated hands and by extension affect buyers and consumers.
This explains why the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, very much aware of this fact, is seeking an amendment to the meat haulage policy and abattoirs management, in order to avoid collateral damage to life. The fear is that the virus could find its way into the respiratory tract of consumers to initiate an infection. Worse still, the lack of social distancing in the abattoirs could promote local transmission among butchers and buyers, if some of them were infected and remained asymptomatic. Asymptomatic individuals, if they are not immediately identified, isolated, and treated can constitute a potential reservoir in the transmission of the virus within the abattoirs and in the surrounding communities. While it is an overstatement to warn that the current pandemic poses a threat of zoonotic transmission, there is a need for the Federal Government to make concerted efforts in order to restore sustainable sanitary regulation at the abattoirs. This will help to forestall any outbreak of another virus that may be deadlier than SARS-CoV-2 An investigation by Saturday Sun points to the growing concerns of the unhygienic conditions of abattoirs in Abuja amidst the persisting spread of the COVID-19 pandemic already reported by the FCT primary health service.
A look at the abattoirs
In Abuja, findings by our correspondent on the activities of some of the abattoirs’ operators, meat sellers and consumers suggest that epidemic diseases could be looming. Indeed, investigations show that many operators of the abattoirs use the most germ-infested methods, even as the entire meat processing, from the killing of the cows to their roasting, is carried out in an unkempt environment. The surroundings are also covered with soot and other unhygienic substances.
A butcher, Munir Abubakar, told our correspondent that cows killed are roasted with burnt motor tyres. A dilapidating structure serves as slaughterhouse. According to findings, there are no potable water supply, waste disposal facility, electricity, tarred road and transportation. Yet the abattoir constructed more than 15 years ago, by the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), is a beehive of activities. It has two changing rooms which are rarely used. The ceilings and walls of the building are covered with soot that has settled there over the years. The ceilings are broken, a sign of years of neglect. The dilapidated slaughterhouse is the only one serving residents of Karu, Nyanyan, Mararaba communities as well as Asokoro, Garki, Wuse. It is approximated that no fewer than 7,300 cows are slaughtered there every year with the AMAC raking in about N1.46m in revenue. Even with no sign of supervision from the body, its authorities collect N1000 as a levy on each cow killed in the slaughterhouse Between 20 and 25 cows are said to be slaughtered every day.
Another butcher who gave his name as Malik, noted that successive administrations of the council had yet to work on the abattoir since it was opened. According to him, the only source of water in the place is a well dug many years ago. He added: “The well provides water only during the rainy season. Once the dry season sets in and the level of water reduces, we are compelled to wash the meat with a pond or water from the nearby canal. Of course, these other sources are unclean.”
Unlike slaughterhouses in developed countries where animals butchered are transported mechanically with trolleys and refrigerated vehicles, in Abuja, particularly at the Karu Abattoir, the butchers use two long iron carriers in their operations. The correspondent observed that the butchers do not use trolleys or vehicles in their services. The Chairman Abuja Municipal Area Council could not be reached to react to these observations. He neither picked up calls on his mobile phone nor replied to the text message sent by our correspondent. Karu is a satellite town under the AMAC. It is one of the six area councils in the FCT. It is also home to various public institutions. It extends its services to various parts of the city such as Nyanya, Asokoro, Garki, Wuse and neighbouring Mararaba in Nasarawa State. According to the 1999 Constitution, local governments councils are saddled with the responsibility of running abattoirs.
Absence of public health workers/vet doctors
Each day that cows are slaughtered, there are no public health care workers and veterinary officials from the council to ascertain the status of the animals. It was gathered that a lot of unwholesome practices such as singeing of hairs of the slaughtered animals by fire and washing of their meat with unclean water by butchers are a common sight. Findings also show that the abattoirs do not meet the minimum operating standards to guarantee food safety. This is because there is currently no national legislation relating to abattoir operations in Nigeria. Unhygienic disposal of waste is among reasons the abattoir has posed a serious health risk. The environment is surrounded by dirt from animal by-products such as horns, hooves, bones and paunch contents. There is also an oozing offensive odour as flies freely roam the arena. Our correspondent also witnessed the slaughtering of some cows at the abattoir without the permission of a public health officer, contrary to international best practices. It was observed that once the animals are slaughtered, they are subsequently roasted with fire made from used tyres.
According to a report by the American Public Health Association, unlicensed workers in unmonitored slaughterhouses in developing countries (such as Ghana and Nigeria) are known to frequently use an open fire made from scraps of automobile tires, to burn the hair of slaughtered goats and cattle before eating or cooking. The report noted that the approach is a huge potential health risk because automobile tires are made of chemicals and materials that, when released into the environment under ambient conditions (like open fire burning), can release hazardous chemicals into the meat. Some examples of such pollutants, according to the association are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Such chemicals when released could be inhaled and could pose severe health hazards to the public or workers in and around the slaughterhouse
The investigation also showed that butchers do not wear face masks, hand gloves as well as other personal protective equipment against COVID-19. Moreover, the butchers seem unaware of the danger of working in a polluted environment or using vehicle tyres to burn dead animals. To them, it is faster and more cost-effective. One of them who was informed about the health implications and environmental risk dismissed the claim with a wave of the hand. Inside the main building of the Karu slaughterhouse, some butchers could be seen washing animals by using a combination of unclean water and an iron sponge. Despite this unhygienic practice, many customers still besiege the place. Because there are no functional operational provisions for vehicles at the abattoir, meat ready for sale is hauled on the seats of motorcycles for transportation to markets. This practice, experts say, is against public health as it exposes the meat and its consumers to infections.
Standard abattoirs
A former Registrar of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN), Markus Avong, who spoke to our correspondent, noted that as of 2015, there were only three standard abattoirs in the country. They were located in Lagos, Borno and Nasarawa states. According to him, the poor, unhygienic and horrible state of abattoirs in the FCT could trigger the incidence of the outbreak of Lassa fever in the area. An on-the-spot assessment study carried out in 17 major slaughterhouses from 14 out of the 19 states in the northern part of the country revealed that much is required regarding meat security among the abattoirs and adequate facilities to safeguard lives.
Technically, facilities and process operations were employed. Videos and photographs for data collection were used on a visit to each abattoir by a joint perspective meat inspection team. They were part of the key indicators used to highlight the problems of the slaughterhouses. The study revealed the absence or dilapidated conditions of basic abattoir infrastructure such as hoisting facilities, supply of potable water, constant electricity, drainage, and waste disposal systems. It noted that good hygienic practices were totally absent.
Waste disposal was indiscriminate and hazardous to the environment while concerned authorities were not making any effort to curtail the situation. Diseases of public health and economic importance that were most frequently encountered included Tuberculosis, CBPP and Helminthoses. It concluded that none of the major abattoirs in northern Nigeria met the minimum hygienic standard of operation. The former Minister of State for FCT, Mrs. Olajumoke Akinjide, in 2012, inaugurated meat haulage vans to convey meat from all abattoirs in the nation’s capital. But this initiative died with the disappearance of the purchased haulage vans moments after the administration ended in 2015. And that is how the process went back to its unhygienic manner of conveying meat into the markets.
Obsolete meat processing policy
Currently, in many parts of the country and Abuja, the inspection of animals by veterinarians to ascertain their level of consumer safety is rarely done. Avong attributed this neglect to a lack of standards or regulations for abattoir operations in the country. He said: “Abattoir workers usually lack the necessary tools to work with, resulting in infections. The council, which ought to carry out the responsibility of enforcing standards in abattoir operations in the country, lacks adequate legal backing.” According to him, there is no National Meat Law governing the activities of abattoir operators in the country except for states like Lagos, Anambra and Ogun.
Dr James Yakub, consultant epidemiologist at Nyanya Hospital, Abuja, while expressing his opinion on the unfortunate situation, insisted that the government has done little or nothing to remedy the situation. He said that non-compliance with hygienic requirements at the abattoirs is another COVID-19 super spreader in waiting. He added: “It is true that the heat of cooking meat can kill any disease but the concern is the spread before the cooking.” He insisted that there must be serious awareness as well as a positive response by the respective organisation in charge to avoid another super spreader from unhygienic meat. Meanwhile, the Minister of State for FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijani, unveiled a ten-year livestock security development plan. He did that at a workshop held in FCT. According to him, the stakeholders’ workshop was held to validate FCT livestock development plan from 2022 to 2031. He added that the administration is putting some structures in place to attract investors from all over the world. Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development in the FCT, Mallam Abubakar Kadir, informed Saturday Sun that the administration recently initiated actions to ensure proper sanitisation of the abattoirs that will bring a turnaround in the system. He said: “I must assure you that the narrative is changing soon.”