Oyo State government has charged the Butchers’ Association of Nigeria, Oyo State chapter, to ensure strict compliance with the state government’s directive to members to operate mainly at government designated centres at the central abattoir, Akinyele local government in Ibadan.
The government added that the directive was in the best interest of the general public that consume meats on daily basis without knowing the source or the process that produced the meats for consumption.
The charge was made at the weekend during a stakeholders meeting, organised by the State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at the State Secretariat in Ibadan.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ojemuyiwa Jacob Ojekunle, while addressing the stakeholders stated that the state government was interested in the well-being of the people which necessitated the need for enforcement of environmental and hygienic process of what the people consume.
“The regulations guiding butchering and meat processing in the state are in place, so is the law that every butcher must do this at the central abattoir at Akinyele until other ones are in place.
“The health and well-being of the people are paramount to the government and we will not joke with the adherence, nobody should violate this, it is for our own good.”
He stated that the state had food vendors scattered across the state and it was important to ensure that meat supplies into the society by members of butchers association were produced under the most hygienic condition to guarantee safety of all consumers, adding that it was for that reason that Oyo State government had made provision for the central abattoir at Akinyele for the operations of the butchers.
The government has been engaging members of the butchers association in the state in a bid to ensure safety of its citizens but a breakaway faction of the association known as Active Butchers has not complied with the directive which has raised government concerns about proper regulation of the association.
“Strict compliance to the directive is impoartant as it will among other things help the state government manage data of the market operators in order to block all financial leakages emanating from saboteurs who would not comply with government directives,” he added.
