What These Nigerians Are Doing With Fresh Blood Will Shock You

An investigation by NAIJ.com has revealed that an abattoir in Mararaba, Nasarawa state, is posing a significant danger to the health of people living in the vicinity.
The health and quality of life of residents in the town is  by pollutants from the abattoir located in their neighbourhood.

Like most abattoirs, Mararaba abattoir is located near a body of water because of the high demand for water for the processing of the slaughtered animals. However, blood from the animals and washing water is often released into a flowing stream untreated. Consumable parts of the slaughtered animals are washed with water drawn from the stream or the beef is washed directly in the flowing water.
Residents of Mararaba also have to cope with the stench of decaying animal parts emanating from the nearby abattoir. It was noted that there were few outdoor activities in the vicinity. The stench that blights the community, according to reports, emanates from dirty water and animal blood that runs out of the abattoir into a large canal nearby.
Research revealed that over 200 animals are slaughtered at the abattoir on a daily basis, and scores of meat sellers could be seen transporting beef to various markets in the metropolis. Some butchers were seen preparing carcasses on the wet, dirty floor outside the abattoir and very close to a pond dug by the abattoir management.

Before this stage, and immediately after animals are slaughtered, the fur is burnt off in the open using firewood and lorry tyres.
At least five fire points were counted daily over the period of observation, each producing smoke continuously between 7.30am and 11:00am, which according to residents is harmful when inhaled. It was, however, observed that firewood constituted the greater part of the fuel.
The use of lorry tyres was relatively minimal compared to other places in the country where they constitute the main energy base. The practice nevertheless produces a huge amount of smoke that pollutes the area and poses a danger to the health of residents.
The facility is also generally operating under unhygienic conditions due to a lack of certain basic amenities. Speaking with NAIJ.com, Anuolapo Richards, a resident of the area living close to the abattoir, decried the current state of the community, adding that the foul smell emanating from the abattoir had existed for years, while the government seemed to have forgotten about it.
He revealed that residents had been finding it difficult to cope with the stench, while efforts to make government provide a lasting solution had been met with a brick wall.
“There is hardly any time you come here and there won’t be a foul odor. You may have observed that many residents don’t usually open their windows; this is because it is quite impossible to do so without inviting the smell of decaying animal parts into our homes.
“The stench is really sickening, and it is often aggravated by the current art of burning animal horns and hooves almost every morning and late at night by butchers,” said Richards, who claimed to have been living in the vicinity for over four years. Andrew James, another resident, said that abattoirs should be prohibited from being located within residential neighbourhoods. They should instead be treated as industrial or agricultural land use.
“Just like high level industries, abattoir should not be found among residential houses because right now the effect it has on all resident of this area is bad and could lead to outbreak of sickness or disease,” he said.

Another resident in the area, Mrs Ngozi Hubert, whose shop was also situated close to the abattoir, agreed. She said: “Though much has been done by residents to enforce environmental sanitation and proper waste disposal methods, the irritating smell from the abattoir still lingers.”
She explained that due to the densely populated nature of the community, many residents stood the risk of contracting airborne diseases. She added that it was time for the abattoir to be relocated.
“Perhaps when the abattoir was created, there were few residential buildings around it, but now things have changed, as thousands of people have moved in here over the last few years.
“I am not a medical practitioner, but I don’t need to be one to know that it is time the government moved in and find a way to save us all from a possible outbreak of an epidemic,” she added.
Dr James Douglas, a medical specialist at the Kings Care Hospital in Mararaba, speaking on the health implications, explained that abattoirs’ activities have direct and indirect negative effects on the local environment and on people’s health, especially residents living close to the abattoir.
He said the negative effects include the contamination of air and water, the transmission of diseases and the blockages of gutters and drains. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter An unkempt abbatoir He also said that abattoirs’ management systems should include a waste management plan, and that legislative measures with regard to land use, waste disposal methods, abattoir management, odour control and provision of assessment criteria for all abattoirs should be enforced.
He said efforts should be made by all relevant agencies when formulating new policies to increase public awareness of the possible impact of pollution from abattoir waste. “Further measures should be provided for better environment secluded from residential area so the lives of people will not be endangered,” he said.
The chairman of Mararaba Butchers’ Association, Ndala Zuzu, told NAIJ.com that the association over the years had made several requests to the state government to provide a secluded area for the business to be relocated away from residents.
“We have made several efforts on our own to make sure our business does not hurt people within the environment. We were able to build a pond where we wash away waste products from the animals we slaughter. “Before now, we make use the river close by, but we decided to stop because of the effects it was having on the people who make use of the river water for domestic use. “
We also make use of chemicals to clean up the places where these animals are killed to eliminate the odor and other jams or bacteria,” Zuzu added.
He called on the state government to come to their aid by providing more boreholes and other necessary amenities to maintain the abattoir, or by moving the abattoir away from residential areas to a more secluded place. Speaking also, the state coordinator of the butchers’ association, Yunusa Garba, said that though the association has constructed three boreholes, it is not enough to cater for the water need of the butchers.
“Our association has always bought chemicals to wash and take care of the abattoir but we are pleading with the government to come in and assist us.
“The Karu local governments do not put our plight into consideration; we need them to look into our challenges,” he said.
At the time of filing this report, all efforts to learn the views of the Nasarawa state government on the issue proved unsuccessful as phone calls and text messages made to government representatives were not answered