Merchants of death: Toxic Suya made from dead cows

A delicacy in most Nigerian home, suya has now become a thing be cautious of. This common street food is basically spiced grilled beef streaks, predominantly sold at night commonly known as suya.

‘ Suya’ is mostly packed in newspaper and garnished with onions, tomatoes and peppers, side dishes served along side include fried corn meal, also referred to as ‘masa.’

Over the years, Suya, is predominantly gotten from cows and started by northerners but has become a huge business of as patronage at Suya spots by Nigerians across the country is seen as the new normal, while others call it ‘the new fast food.’

Despite the fact that it is a venture that could stem the alarming employment rate in the country, health experts have questioned the modus operandi of Suya preparation, stating that its consumers are susceptible to deadly diseases such as colorectal cancer, liver cancer, helicobacter pyloris and other infections that occur in the gastrointestinal tract.

Meanwhile, investigation by Sunday Vanguard exposed the shady business of these Suya or meat sellers, particularly on how dead animals   are purchased, skinned, thoroughly spiced, skewered and sold to unsuspecting Nigerians for consumption.

This unfortunate trend is the reason palpable tension was seen about a year ago in Umueze, Umuakanu community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, after seven people from the same family died after eating the popular barbecue known as Suya.

It may also answer the question how, on a Saturday, four of seven children namely, Chibuzor, 12; Sunday Chibuzor, 10; Oluomachi Chibuzor, 8; and Kingsley Chibuzor, 3, died after allegedly eating Suya, also in Abia State.

Even more disturbing is that these deaths occurred after the Federal Government had enacted the ‘Meat Hygienic Act’ to regulate the operations of abattoirs in the country.

Abattoirs

Still, what stands as a sheer display of national shame is the unsanitary situation of abattoirs across the country. Aside that some of them are into the sale of meat from dead livestock, they are gradually taking the shape of a dunghill thereby posing serious health concerns. This is no thanks to the little or no attention accorded these facilities by concerned government agencies and stakeholders.

Using the Karu, Abuja abattoir as a case study, contrary to the standard rule of inspecting all animals meant to be slaughtered, and certified fit for human consumption, Sunday Vanguard can confirm that some of those usually brought in and slaughtered, as observed during a visit, are not inspected before and after being killed, despite the presence of a veterinary doctor stationed at the facility.

Indeed, investigation has shown that some infectious diseases that plague Nigerians are traceable to the unhygienic methods of processing meat at abattoirs.

According to reports, to address the beef requirement of 200 million Nigerians, over 1.3 million cows are slaughtered yearly, as cattle alone provide about 30 per cent of meat consumed in the country.

Cattle, therefore, contribute a critical part to the country’s food security arrangement.

But as lucrative as the beef business is, it also has its downsides, given the litany of challenges associated with the process of getting the cattle from the sellers to abattoirs and finally to the consumers’ dining tables.

Findings by Sunday Vanguard show that majority of Nigerians don’t care about the source of the meat they purchase in markets and the barbecue at Suya joints or worry about the cooked or fried meat they buy from food vendors.

The consequence of this failure to ensure that set standards are met in the meat processing process is the vicious business of sales of dead animal meats and increasing penetration of zoonoses into homes, leaving the society vulnerable.

Alerted to the death toll, Sunday Vanguard beamed its searchlight on how many Suya sellers source their meat.

It was gathered that while some Suya sellers are true to their business, others prefer dead cows, chickens, and goats, among other animals, to prepare their delicacies to cut cost as they come cheaper than live ones.

Further investigation revealed that some of these animals, who mostly die as a result of underlying ailments, are usually stockpiled outside abattoirs, and sold to interested Suya sellers and other meat vendors.

Even more startling was the discovery of how Suya sellers could come together to purchase dead cows in order to reduce the financial load on an individual seller.

“Cool money”

Some butchers in Karu, who spoke to our correspondent anonymously, said when cows die in the abattoir, it is not every time they are buried as some are kept, moved out later and sold cheaper to Suya sellers or other buyers in need of beef.

John Tama (not real name), who claimed to work in the abattoir, confirmed that selling of meat from dead animals is not a practice only peculiar to them, but is also seen in other abattoirs around Abuja and in other states across the country.

He said, although the business is not a popular one, it is very lucrative because dead cows, among other animals, are purchased on daily basis and attracts what he described as “cool money”, adding that “it is a business of choice.”

His words: “Although I am not part of it but as somebody in this abattoir I quite understand the underground business that is going on with these animals.

“Not all of the animals that die are buried, burnt or thrown away. Some of those animals are not just wasted like that. The owners have to regain the economic loss. They (animals) are taken to a particular place outside the abattoir and prepared for those who want to come and buy.

“So, when they come to buy, they sell the meat at a low cost. The cost is not going to be as much as when the cow was alive. They sell cheaply so that they can easily dispose of it.

“You can imagine the number of cows and animals that die here every day as a result of one sickness or the other; so where do you think we put them? Or take them to? We burn some while some are sold to meat sellers or Suya sellers.

“There is money. I mean Suya sellers make a lot of money every day because we tend to lose cows almost every day.”

Secret business

Another worker in the abattoir, who seemed to have an in-depth knowledge about this meat black market, told our reporter that many abattoirs across the country lacked health care workers and veterinary doctors to ascertain the health status of cows and other animals slaughtered there for sale to the public.

According to him, due to the paucity of health professionals, sale of dead and infected animals had been going on unnoticed.

He said even if there were health officials, the processing, sanitation arrangements, slaughtering facilities, handling and movement of meat fall short of standards.

He said: “Truly, there are people who come here to ask for such meat and there are those in this market who engage in that kind of business, but that kind of business is a secret business.

“You don’t bring it to the open because in the abattoir, we have policies. And none of the policies accepts sale of dead animals.

“There are LGA policies and even the federal or state government and even the experts that come. So, now if there is any business as such, it must be an underground business.

“To the best of my knowledge, yes, there are people who sell dead cow meat and I can tell you for sure how they operate because I know some butchers that do it. In this particular abattoir, I may not know of others, once a cow or goat dies, there is a place where they take them to burn and discard them.

Modus operandi

“But, it is not so in some cases. When any animal dies, they put it in a truck and take it to the bush where it should be burnt, but some people divert it somewhere else to butcher and then have the meat integrated into the market where it is sold to interested buyers.

“Some people may be mischievous to sell the meat to an ordinary buyer, one thing you should understand is that in that kind of market, there are intentional buyers, people who meet them for dead animal meat and there are sellers who sell it to the open market and then the buyers unintentionally buy meat from dead animals, which applies to Mai Suyas and other retail meat sellers. So, yes, there is a business like that. But it is hidden.

“These things have continued for a long time now in abattoirs because the country is facing a bad time in such a way that abattoirs lack professionals and veterinary doctors to check animals and the meat and to ascertain whether they are alive and diseases free at the time of slaughter.

“Even if some professionals come they are very few and they don’t come all the time, so butchers are left to do what they want, particularly those who divert animals and work with people responsible for discarding these animals.”

Dead meat sellers exist

On his part, Usman Abdullahi, another butcher who hesitated to disclose what he knew to our correspondent, said he was not clear about how dead livestock marketers operate, but he was certain that a business of such exists.

He said, “What I know is my own business. I used to buy animals that they have slaughtered already but I really don’t know if they were dead or alive before they were slaughtered.

“I have heard from two or three people that they sell that kind of meat in this place (Karu) but I have not seen it yet. People also told me that if I want to buy such meat I should contact them and they will show me how to get it.

“Yes, with what I know, it is not an open market. It is not an open business and what I know is that some of the cows that die, they burn them. There is a monitoring team that monitors how they discard these dead cows.

“But I know that it is not all the time that veterinary doctors come around. So, maybe when they’re not around, that is when this kind of business occurs.”

Buyers

A mother of three, Gloria Audu, 45, was shocked when told of the practice and health implications for humans.

Audu said her family would take caution going forward even it meant purchasing more fish than meat from the market.

“This is a serious matter and a very dangerous one at that. One has to be very careful about what is bought from the market”, she stated.

“A lot of things are not right in Nigeria anymore. People are desperately seeking means to survive and, as a result of that, they go into all manner of shady businesses without even considering whose health it is affecting”.

Another Abuja resident, Hasan Abubakar, accused government at all levels of not paying attention to abattoirs across the country.

Experts react

Experts told Sunday Vanguard that efforts to curb the spread of zoonosis may continue to falter as private individuals and groups benefitting from the business may make it impossible for government to succeed.

A veterinary doctor and founder of Mobovet Nigeria Limited, Vet Konect, Akpem Terese Shadrach, called on government to initiate legislation that makes economic compensation possible for livestock farmers who lose animals.

Shadrach’s words: “There are a lot of health implications for consuming toxic meat from dead livestock.

“The animal is dead, even if you pick it from a religious angle, whether you’re a Muslim or a Christian, religions forbid consumption of animals that have died, especially when under conditions that you are not aware of.

“There are definite health implications because, according to the World Health Organization, over seven per cent of the diseases that affect human beings come from animals.

“What that means is that out of every 10 diseases that affect humans, seven of them come from animals and that is really a big deal.

“So, chances are that when an animal dies, especially when you cannot establish the cause, there is probably a sickness.

“As a veterinary doctor, I am aware that this shady business and merchandise is ongoing in the livestock sector. It is actually unfortunate”.

But, unfortunately, we have farms where animals would die and they will present them to vendors who would come and buy and may be you, as a person that want to eat meat, you will go outside at night to buy and you truly cannot differentiate whether the animal you are buying was humanely slaughtered or it died and was processed and it is being sold to you.

“The first thing to do to discourage such practices is to set up a strict penalties and compensation system because there are some economic diseases and government should be able to put in place so that if something like that happens, they should not shy away from it.

“One of the ways to bridge that number while employment is wrapped up is a very robust partnership with state ministries.

Also, giving room for private veterinary doctors to set up empowerment programs or training programs where government is able to support and get different players across the value chain whether we are talking about livestock, butchers, vendors or farmers.

“We don’t have proper legislation backing up what the veterinary mandate is, it is going to slow down the process in terms of what can be done to prevent acts like this”.

On her part, an Abuja based nurse, Esami Odeh, who displayed shock, said: “Dead animal? I used to be oblivious to this wickedness, and hardly took note until one of our lecturers said something related.

“He warned us not to buy meat that flies are not seen hovering around. And to those sellers ‘na better meat, fly no fit near this one’. God forbid. Thank God I wasn’t raised to be a hard core meat eater. So I can pass. I’m better safe than sorry.

“I think government really needs to invest more in public health and have more competent public health experts sent to abattoirs to check the health of live animals to be slaughtered because some may be ill and at the verge of death, they let them die, butcher them and send them into the markets.

“But, if these public health officials see those sickly animals, they can order their immediate slaughter and save us from illnesses that can affect humans.”

Punishment

Also speaking, the President of All Farmers Association, AFA, Farouk Rabiu Mudi, condemned the sales of beef from dead livestock, vowing to punish those into such business.

He called on government to set up committees and task forces to ensure scrutiny of meat processed in abattoirs across Nigeria.

“Nigerians should not accept meat from animals killed in households and brought to the public”, he said.

“I am quite sure that anywhere such a thing is discovered, even we in the private sector, can deal with that person directly, not only the security agencies because you cannot bring unknown meat to the public for public consumption. So, we are actually against that.

“Meat must be strictly scrutinized before being brought to the public. There should be Standard Organisation of Nigeria there and there are people who scrutinize the health of animals before being slaughtered.

NVMA reacts

Similarly, the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, NVMA, expressed concerns over the issue, describing the traders of dead animals as “wicked.”

The FCT Chairman, NVMA, Dr. Ifeanyi Ogbu, said dead animals are mostly diverted when veterinary doctors are not around to supervise the process of discarding them.

He said: “We have been saying that let there be more veterinary doctors in government service, let there be more veterinary doctors in abattoirs, let there be more federal veterinary medical centers so that we can checkmate things like this.

“If animal consumption is not checked and the source of what we eat is not checked, man is not safe because what you eat is what makes you. “Mortality and death of people in Nigeria is high now. If you check what is causing them, there are more zoonotic issues, more diseases emanating from animals, particularly the protein.

“So, there is an urgent need for the Federal Government to absorb more veterinary doctors especially in FCT here where the number of population of people is increasing and the number of veterinary staff is static”.

NAFDAC responds

Spokesman for the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Abubakar Jimoh, in a telephone conversation, said that, although its major concern as a commission is to monitor packaged, food and other products, it is advisable for Nigerians to be careful about the source of meat they purchase so as not to fall victim of buying the one from dead animals but also meat from sellers who use formalin for preservation.

He said NAFDAC was working to ensure that the society was purged of practices that could jeopardize human health.

QUOTE: Even more startling was the discovery of how Suya sellers could come together to purchase dead cows in order to reduce the financial load on an individual seller

(Vanguard)