Do you eat beef in Abuja? Here’s the rough route it takes to get to your table
In Hinduism, the cow (Sanskrit go) is revered as the source of food and symbol of life and should never be killed. Hindus do not worship the cow, however, and cows do not have especially charmed lives in India. It is more accurate to say the cow is taboo in Hinduism, rather than sacred. The […]
In Hinduism, the cow (Sanskrit go) is revered as the source of food and symbol of life and should never be killed. Hindus do not worship the cow, however, and cows do not have especially charmed lives in India. It is more accurate to say the cow is taboo in Hinduism, rather than sacred.
The cow remains a protected animal in Hinduism today and Hindus do not eat beef. Even when meat-eating is permitted, the ancient Vedic scriptures encouraged vegetarianism. One scripture says, “There is no sin in eating meat… but abstention brings great rewards.” (The Laws of Manu, V/56)
In Abuja, however, abattoirs have been in existence for many years and there are four of them, namely, Deidei, Karu, Kubwa and Gwagwalada under the Agricultural Services Department of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).There is also a slaughterhouse at Mpape under Bwari area council.
In Kubwa district, the abattoir situated along Gado Nasko Road in the Phase IV area of the district is a slaughter house for different types of animals like cows, goats and rams
Every morning, activities commence at the Kubwa Abattoir after the early morning Muslim prayer between 5.30 a.m. and 6 a.m. The cows, the first of two dozens to be killed daily, are led out from the cattle shed which is situated just behind into the main abattoir building.
A loud echo from the mooing cows gets entwined with howls from the selected youths whose duty is to tie them in preparation for slaughter. The youths operate in pairs with one in front and the other at the cow’s rear, pulling and dragging the often reluctant cows along the path to their waterloo.
The echo reverberates and sounds like a wakeup call around the neighbourhood and soon women meat buyers start trooping into the abattoir looking for strategic places where they will sit and lie in wait for the meat to be brought out.
To ensure general hygiene around the market and the health of the animals, health officials attached to the market said several cows are slaughtered daily, depending on the market forces. The process is painstaking so as to make sure that only healthy cows are slaughtered. Animal health officials inspect the animal to ensure that they are in good health after which certificates of clearance will be issued before sales in the markets.
Thereafter, they are slaughtered and then distributed to butchers who retail them in large quantities for onward sales within the Kubwa abattoir and in different markets in and around the district. There is also a meat cold store opposite the abattoir that offers frozen foods and cold room services to interested customers.
Livestock slaughtered indiscriminately in an unhealthy environment may suffer from diseases that are transferable from animals to humans given to poor management and disposal of refuse and have such implications as causing epidemics such as tuberculosis and other zoonotic diseases.
Soon large chunks of meat are carried from inside the abattoir by two youths moving in pairs to the arranged tables outside which have earlier been washed by others.
The tables are arranged in such a way that offers meat from different parts of the slaughtered cows such as cow legs, cow tail, head, and skins (popularly called Kpomo) all have their different sections.
So also the raw inner entrails of the cow like livers, intestine, lungs and stomach. all have separate tables where patrons can look for a good bargain of their choices from the meat sellers who operate under canopies in their various places.
Some of the patronisers of the meat however complained that although the place is relatively neat, the butchers carry meat from various cattle markets across the territory to the points of slaughter on motorcycles and pick-up trucks, thereby exposing them to flies and dust until they reach the market.
Hajia Amina, a regular meat buyer from the abattoir, decried how the butchers roast skinny parts of the meat with tyres and plastics rather than firewood.
According to her, such methods might have adverse health implications.
“You can even see some of the butchers slaughtering cows without wearing aprons and gloves,” another buyer complained.
The abattoir is however dotted with various animals, belonging to some workers, like goats, sheeps, dogs, chickens and guinea-fowl who move about the ground picking at any rubbish they may find on the ground.
At night however, activities go on the entrance to the abattoir where wives of some butchers hawk local food to the teeming patrons mainly youths who work in the abattoir.
There is also a mosque within the abattoir where the Muslim five daily prayers are offered, while at the periphery of the abattoir various artisans including mechanics, vulcanizers, and carpenters could also be found.
Turbanning a new Sarkin pawan Kubwa Abattoir
Therefore it came as a surprise to many residents of Kubwa in Abuja when a new Sarkin Pawa, literally meaning the Abattoir Chief, was to be turbaned on May 12, 2012, as no meat was sold that day in Kubwa.
Umar Sule Kabo, the new Sarkin Pawa of Kubwa, hails from Kabo local government area of Kano State, and his father, the immediate past Sarkin Pawa of Kubwa, died on 19th February 2012, after reigning for 20 years.
Dignitaries who thronged the Kubwa Abbatoir that Saturday for the event included the Sarkin Pawan Abuja Alhaji Usman Datti, the Hakimi or Sarkin Maitama Bulus Yerima, Vice Chairman Bwari Area Council, Mutawalle Abubakar Bala, and Barden Bwari, Alhaji Aliyu Garba, who represented the Sarkin Bwari.
While the turbanning ceremony of the new Sarkin Pawa was in progress by the Hakimi or Sarkin Maitama, a traditional Hausa wrestling tournament, popularly called Dambe, was staged premises of the Kubwa Abattoir.
Traditional musicians and praise singers had featured and were surrounded by abattoir workers and hundreds of on-lookers including increased by the hour by Okada riders, youngmen and girls who were hawking all sorts of whares like pure water, ground nuts.
The boxers were dressed in only shorts with their right hands wrapped in crape bandage and were arranged for the fight in pairs.
The beauty of the show was that as soon as a winner emerges between two fighters, by felling an opponent, one or two appointed referees will quickly intervene to ensure that no serious physical harm is inflicted by any of the two parties in the fight.
Meanwhile, as the Dambe was going on, amidst spraying of winners of the wrestling matches which notes of money by friends and loved ones, some youths were showing off their skills in handling the cows. However one or two of the teenagers, who could not properly handle the giant bulls, got parts of their bodies scratched in the process.
This occurs when a recalcitrant cow will suddenly snap and start chasing one of its two handlers who usually hold the animals at bay with a rope tied to the two horns and one to its hind legs.
The obviously enraged cow will, amidst shouts of glee and fear from the crowd, speedily chase the youth until he falls down, then proceed to kick him with one of its hooves, lower its head and then pierce any part of the victims’ body with its horn.
As the injured victims scampered for safety, with blood dripping from fresh stomach in their jaws, wombs and hands, the angry cow then stipulated to a stop with obvious triuph while foaming in the mouth and fuming with its nostrils.
However, encomiums were still pouring in as the turbanning celebrations of the new Sarkin Pawan Kubwa continued that festive Saturday with the feeding of the gaily dressed men women and children who swarmed the premises of Kubwa Abattoir to rejoice with the celebrant.
But many residents of Kubwa, except the vegetarians, were only too anxious for the drums to die down so they could resume their meat consumption.