Story of sale of human parts, child prostitution inside Oko Oba abattoir not true – Butchers

The various associations of butchers at the Oko Oba abattoir in Agege, Lagos, rose from a three-hour meeting yesterday to deny claims of alleged illegal activities of child prostitution and sale of human parts by their members within the market. The butchers urged members of the public to dismiss such claims, insisting that the story […]

The various associations of butchers at the Oko Oba abattoir in Agege, Lagos, rose from a three-hour meeting yesterday to deny claims of alleged illegal activities of child prostitution and sale of human parts by their members within the market.

The butchers urged members of the public to dismiss such claims, insisting that the story was the handiwork of people they called mischief makers, who, they alleged, were doing everything to take over the management of the market.

A national daily (not Daily Trust) recently published a report that the Lagos State governor may soon shut down the Oko Oba abattoir indefinitely following alleged discovery by government officials of illegal activities of child prostitution, sale of human parts and other vices within the market.

Rising from yesterday’s meeting held at the office of the United Butchers Association, the Chairman of the Lagos Butchers Association, Alhaji Malomo Baki Yusuf, declared that the newspaper report was replete with mischief meant to pit the state government against the butchers.

Alhaji Yusuf expressed the butchers’ displeasure with the sweeping statements in the report, which he said tended to label members of the butchers associations at the abattoir as human parts dealers and engaging in child prostitution.

He said, “We are law-abiding citizens and go about our businesses legitimately. We have never been involved in the sale of human parts, nor engaged in child prostitution.

“We welcome the state government’s plan to demolish all illegal shanties within the market. We also approve the state government’s move to upgrade the standard of the market. The move is aimed at enhancing our business. We have set up a committee to interface with the state government on this issue since the writer of the report said he got his information from the state government. The committee has also been charged to take up legal action against the author of the satanic story and to expose those supposed sponsors of the report, which is aimed at tarnishing our image.”

The chairman of the United Butchers Association, Usman Adams, also said members were “tired of the mirage of concocted stories about assumed illegal activities in the market.”

Adams recalled that “mischief makers” were at a time circulating old pictures of the abattoir to give the public the impression that cows were being slaughtered in an unhygienic condition. 

“This facility is owned by the state government. They have many veterinary personnel attached to the abattoir. They inspect the cattle to be killed. Those that are not fit for human consumption are removed while they approve the ones to be slaughtered. Will they approve the sale of human parts in the market?” he wondered.

He added that the association’s members have been asking the state government to pull down shanties along the rail lines, saying it was along the rail lines that criminal activities take place.

“Those who operate along the rail lines are those who engage in prostitution. The area is quite different from the abattoir,” he said.