The stinking abbatoir of Lagos

There are several ways you would know you have arrived at the Lagos State Abbatoir Complex at Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos. If it’s in the daytime, you would see a lot of human activity going on in front of it, and if you inquire why so much activity, you would be told that this is the biggest abbatoir in Lagos so the activity is expected.

Another way you would know you were at the abbatoir is if you were in a commercial bus passing by it. Shortly before getting to it, the conductor would have been enquiring if anyone was alighting at the abbatoir. And when he finally gets there, he would announce so.

But probably the most salient way you would know of the abbatoir’s location is the stinking smell that emanates from it. This is a nasty smell that pervades the air around it for miles and is the surest way to inform a first-timer perceiving it that something is smelling.

This putrid smell that is synonymous with the abbatoir invades the atmosphere as early as 5am. A first-timer inhaling it suddenly, unexpectedly would cover his nose in disgust and fear for his health.

An okada rider who took this reporter to the abbatoir said of the smell: “This stinking smell is not for the children of the rich who live sheltered lives and are not used to the rough side of life. If they were to inhale this smell, they would end up vomiting. But some of us are used to it as we pass here every day. It is not good, though.”

Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog’s trip to the abbatoir confirmed that not only does it stink, it is also very dirty. Considering that it is a place where animal meat for the consumption of humans is initially processed, the abbatoir should definitely be neat and hygienic, but it is not.

Inexplicably, a dumpsite is right inside the complex. This dumpsite is so filthy that merely looking at it is irritating. Worst of all, there are several cows grazing on the dumpsite. Needless to say, these cows would definitely still be slaughtered for man’s consumption.

The smell made by the abbatoir was explained by Benjamin the okada rider. “It is the blood and other wastes of the slaughtered cows being evacuated from the abbatoir through these gutters (he points them out) that cause the smell. Since it’s a lot of blood and wastes, it amounts to a lot of smell too.”

Inspecting the gutters Benjamin indicted, it was obvious that they began inside the abbatoir before linking the main road. Also very obvious was the fact that their content was a reddish brown liquid that was oozing the nasty smell.

In addition, the abbatoir’s frontage was also very dirty with garbage littered all over it. Certainly, this was not the sort of beautiful environment that should have been the frontage of a large and important edifice concerned primarily with man’s edible needs.

The abbatoir’s interior is also a testament of its unhygienic appearance. Cow dung dots the ground indiscriminately. The kraals housing the cows look unkempt. Dirty clothes hang all over them. Human beings were spotted by OOB lying right inside the kraals.

The slaughter ground of the cows is also a crude and dirty affair.

The meat gotten from the slaughtered cattle doesn’t fare any better. They are transported in dirty vehicles and other contraptions from one point to the other.

A O Abiola, a pharmacist, is one person who is aware of the abbatoir not just by hearsay but from direct contact of having entered it and also passing in front of it on a consistent basis. And Abiola doesn’t mince words on the abbatoir’s nasty smell.

“The abbatoir smells all the time,” Abiola blasted. “God help you if you are caught in a hold-up around the abbatoir. One day I was and I still regret it.”

When OOB asked him if the abbatoir had the right to smell, since animals are killed there constantly, Abiola had an appropriate answer.

“It can smell somewhat, but not to the extent of getting to the main road where little children are. Adults can adapt to the foul smell, but little children will find it difficult to do so because they are still developing and very vulnerable.

“I think it should be relocated. It will pose health problems to the residents around there over time. I pity those living there and wonder how they cope. I have been inside it and it is very dirty in every facet of its operations.”

On if the meat from the abbatoir posed any danger to consumers, his answer was affirmative. “Definitely. Stale meat is not good for the body. I don’t know if the Ministry of Health has a patrol team that goes to supervise and monitor the abbatoir, but there should be. NAFDAC as well is in charge of ensuring good drugs and food is what we consume, but it must have neglected the abbatoir which also produces food.”

Since Abiola said stale meat is not good for human consumption, this reporter sought to clarify from him if the meat produced by the abbatoir could be classified as stale or dirty.

“Both are not good for consumption,” he declared. “If meat is not processed cleanly, it becomes dirty and stale by the following day if not sold that same day. If you eat dirty or stale meat, it will lead to food poisoning under which is gastroenteritis (vomiting), stooling, cholera and damage of one or two organs.”

And on why lots of people have not fallen sick from eating the abbatoir’s meat, was it because meat is cooked before consumption, asked this reporter of Abiola.

“I won’t agree that cooking meat protects us from its ill effects. Truly, if you boil meat to 100 degrees, the bacteria in it will die, but it isn’t wise to bank on this. The number of animals killed in the abbatoir is enormous, enough to feed the whole of Lagos State, and this is symbolic of the gravity of the problem that might occur one day if it should lead to an outbreak of cholera.”

When this reporter queried him further on if the abbatoir can truly lead to an epidemic, he insisted that “it can. And such an epidemic might occur from consumption or it might be environmental through airborne infections.”