From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
There is a war of words between dried donkey meat dealers and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the legality or otherwise of trading in donkey meat.
Customs says illegal trade in endangered species such as donkeys is a contravention of Section 63 (b) of CEMA, CAP C.45, LFN, 2004. But the traders disagree, arguing that a clampdown on them was a clear effort at frustrating the means of livelihood of Christians.
The Kebbi State command of the NCS recently intercepted a truck laden with donkey meat valued by the owners at over N100m, though Customs said the goods were worth about N42m. The NCS destroyed the confiscated donkey meat and buried the the debris.
Owners of the goods said the impounded truck was headed for Woliwo Market, Onitsha, Anambra State. The traders, who staged a protest in Onitsha, said the incident of March 8, 2022, at Yauri, involving about 1,400 sacks of dried donkey meat, was the first of its kind in the country since over 50 years of the business in Nigeria.
They described the action of the Customs as sabotage and wickedness against Igbo traders and Christians because, according to them, the meat was unapproved by the Islamic religion.
The traders said the action was meant to sack over 10,000 traders involved in donkey business, whether live or prepared (meat), across the country. They noted that live donkeys were brought into Nigeria from neighouring countries by northern traders from whom they buy the animals, butcher and sell as dried meat in different parts of the country.
National chairman of Dried Meat Preservers/Traders’ Association (DMPTA), Ikechukwu Aniude, said, since they started doing the business, which their fathers handed over to them, they had not experienced such an act by the Customs. He called on the Federal Government to probe the destruction of their goods and compensate the owners accordingly.
He said they have been doing legitimate business within the country, adding that they do not export the meat, such that it would warrant such action against their members.
“The question is, when did selling donkey meat become an offence in Nigeria? Is it now that Customs is just waking up from slumber to know that donkeys are endangered species, when Igbo traders are involved? The business has been on for over 50 years across Nigeria. The donkeys are brought from Benin and Niger Republics and other neighouring countries. Nigerians don’t have them, but the Customs allow the Hausa traders to bring them into the country and sell them to us and other traders across Nigeria.
“Why is that it is our own dried meat of donkey that was tagged endangered species? Our goods loaded in a lorry coming to Onitsha market were seized by Customs and buried the full load. It is targeted against Ndigbo. It is part of the maltreatments meted out to the Igbo people in this country. The Customs did not stop those that bring donkey into Nigeria but when they sell to us and we dry and package it, it’s against the law,” Aniude lamented.
Also, national secretary of DMPTA, Chinonso Aniobi, said the action of the Customs was to bring down Igbo people in the business.
He said: “We want the Federal Government to look into the seizure and destruction of our goods by Customs. They should pay us compensation because that lorryload of donkey was worth over N100 million. The money was loan collected from banks by the traders for the business. What we do is, when we sell, we repay the bank. Now they have destroyed the goods, where would we get money to pay back the bank loans?
“This business was started by our fathers in 1967. Since that time, we never had any problem with any security agents. We have branches in Kebbi, Kaduna and Gombe states. When we started the business there, the government, health officers from Ministry of Health and emirs came and certified it as good for consumption, there is no record of donkey meat killing anybody in the country. Government should allow us to continue with our business.”
Chairman of Ilela Livestock Market in Kebbi State, Alhaji Hamza Ahmed, who also deals in live donkeys, condemned what the Customs did. He, however, said that the dried donkey meat business was not exclusive to Igbo people.
Hamza confirmed that northern traders were the ones bringing in the animals from neighbouring countries. He said nobody had obstructed their vehicles from transporting the animals over the years and wondered why the Customs did not just impound the truckload of dried meat but also destroyed them.
“The business is feeding many families and about 10,000 people feed from the business. We Hausa don’t eat donkey meat but we do the business, supplying it to those who eat the meat. We sell to butchers and sell to dried meat traders who kill it and dry it before taking it to their various markets in the country.
“Government should call the Customs to order. If the government stops the business, it will not only affect Igbo people that sell the dried meat but all of us who sell donkey because all of us will be jobless and it could increase crime. I’m not happy over the destruction of the goods. The Customs should stop giving the Buhari-led government a bad name and do the right thing,” Hamza warned.
Meanwhile, the NCS confirmed that it intercepted about 1,390 sacks of donkey meat valued at about N42 million at the Yauri Junction of Kebbi State.
Controller of the Area Command, Joseph Attah, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the donkey meat was seized because donkey was among of the endangered species that were prohibited from being killed.
He said: “Kebbi Area Command, while on routine patrol, intercepted a trailer with registration number ARG 323 XA loaded with donkey meat. The driver and one other occupant of the vehicle were immediately arrested and brought to the command’s headquarters with the offending item.
“Physical examination of the truck revealed that it was loaded with 1,390 sacks of donkey meat with a duty paid value of N42,534,400. Illegal trade in endangered species such as donkeys is a contravention of Section 63 (b) of CEMA, CAP C.45, LFN, 2004. The over N42 million worth of donkey meat was destroyed with the representatives of police, DSS and NESREA in attendance.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has maintained that donkey hide remains on the export prohibition list, despite Asia’s huge demand.
Government, in an effort to address concerns about the possible extinction of the animal in the nearest future, due to increasing global demand, passed the ‘Donkey Export and Killing (prohibition) Bill’ into law in 2019.
The bill provides a 10-year sentence for anyone who kills, knowingly moves, delivers, receives, possesses, sells or donates a donkey to be slaughtered either for human consumption or as food to other animals.
However, deputy chairman of Donkey Skin Processors, Marketers and Exporters Association of Nigeria, Vitalis Ike, argued that the demand for donkey skin was an opportunity for Nigeria to increase production and generate foreign exchange.
According to him, the entire donkey value chain provides employment opportunities for no fewer than 10,000 Nigerians.
Nonetheless, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service stated that donkey hide remains on the export prohibition list, pointing out that the resumption of the certification of that commodity for export hinges on the rebound of the Nigerian donkey herd, which is still classified as an endangered species.
Director-general of the agency, Vincent Isegbe, said: “The government would consider delisting donkey hide from the contraband category only after the scale has tilted in favour of the recovery of Nigerian donkeys.”