Thirty cows have reportedly died after consuming grains allegedly poisoned in Ilorin, Kwara State.
A source explained that the cows were brought out from the Mandate Market for their routine grazing around the School of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies when the incident occurred at the weekend.
One of the owners of the cows, simply identified as Olugbon, said they received a distress call that their cows were falling and dying while returning to the Mandate Market.
He said, “We discovered they ate poisonous grains on their path and 30 died before we got to the scene. We suspect sabotage.”
On his part, Ismail Ibrahim, another herder, said, “Other affected cows who also ate the poisonous grains have been treated and kept under watch; we lost more than 30.”
The Babaloja of the Mandate Market, Murtala Tanbariku, while describing the development as unfortunate, solicited the state government’s support for the affected traders.
Meanwhile, a group, Kwara Monitoring Group (KMG), in a statement by its Coordinator, Dan-Musa, alleged that some of the dead animals were being slaughtered and distributed to butchers to be sold.
He, therefore, called for an immediate action from the government.
Before then, it was gathered that a state government’s delegation went to the market to confiscate the suspected beef.
Led by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development and her health counterpart, Mrs Toyosi Thomas-Adebayo and Dr Amina Ahmed El-Imam, the team said they came to activate measures to protect the public amid rumours of poisoned beef.
In a statement, the government said, “The government has immediately confiscated all the suspected meat for laboratory tests and confirmation of claims after initial engagements with the Mandate Market stakeholders.”