Bodija Abbatoir Saga, the untold story behind the unrest.

I'm Bashir Olanrewaju, Perm. Sec., Oyo State Ministry of Information.

Ordinarily, I hardly comment on the social media in view of loads of deliberate/ignorant  misinformation peddled as eye witness/expert opinions.
I read all the comments, so far, on this platform on the unfortunate Bodija market violent brigandage by some butchers and I felt I should share some relevant facts.

1. Govt is not relocating Butchers, but only relocating abattoir operations and slaughter services to the state of the Art facility at Akinyele. Sale of meat which is the primary butcher services remains in the existing markets. Only that slaughtering will no longer get take place within the markets for health and  quality assurance purposes.
2. This was the agreement  with the Butchers Union since 2014. Govt gave abattoir operators 1year to wind down operation 's and prepare to move to the new facility. Govt also did not renew any license for operators yet stopped collecting renewal fees from abattoirs since 2014. This was to allow operators prepare to relocate operations which benefit was enjoyed since 2014 till this June. Without any license to operate, any abattoir operating does so illegally.
3.The new facility is not privately owned as being Claimed, but a PPP collaboration between Govt and a private investor,  which by the intervention of the Gov. was  structured to accommodate all stakeholders in the industry as Co-shareholders in the project.
4. The SPV operating the new facility has the local govts/LCDAs, and the investing Partner as major shareholders, with the OYSG and Butchers as co-owners too and the state remains a minority shareholder.
5. All parties signed the MOU to move (including the Butchers Union) and agreed on the commencement of operations at Akinyele this June.
6. The Butchers Union are in full support of this initiative of govt, but a splinter faction seems determined to frustrate the  laudable  collaboration achieved. It is this group  that refused to stop operating illegal abattoirs.
Even though the law allows Min. of Agric to shut such abattoirs summarily, OYSG sought the order of court and the court issued an order to restrain further  operations and seal up these illegally operating abattoirs and same was executed by bailiffs last week, but a section of Bodija Butchers broke the seal the next day and started to slaughter the following day and on the road side! Today the task force seeking compliance visited and were attacked by the Butchers.  Police are I vestige ting the unfortunate i ciders but govt will prosecute any culpable party for the crimes committed. It is appropriate to give the true story lest some lies are masked as truth.
Kindly recall that Bodija Market was closed down last year because of the poor hygienic situation the abattoir. The cow dung was left unpacked for four months. The Market was closed for three days. So the media group must include the Sanitation implications: unhealthy treatment of  cattle bloods, offensive odours, unhygienic spread of meat, air pollution due to gaseous emission from cow dung, the likely epidemic diseases from flies spread.
People's property was not destroyed, only the slaughter slab was removed.
The slaughter slab obviously belongs to the government.