Bush meat lovers defy Ebola virus

Raji and Odeyemi eating bush meat

With the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including Nigeria, hunters and traders in some communities say it has also affected their businesses, write KAYODE FALADE, ARUKAINO UMUKORO, GBENGA ADENIJI and MOTUNRAYO JOEL

The inviting aroma of bush meat simmering on tripods of fire wafted into the air on a breezy afternoon in the serene town of Ijede, Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Olasehinde holding a monkey he killed

Chief Osore Afolabi Olasehinde’s family of six wives and several children is one of the numerous in the community which overlooks the Lagos Lagoon, south of its boundary. And like others, the favourite game of the family is the grass cutter — an animal in the rat family.

Olasehinde is a hunter and he is high up in the bush meat industry not only in Lagos State but in the country in general. He is the Olori Ode General, National Hunters Association of Nigeria He comes home regularly with a generous kill of bush meat. Depending on the day, it could be a buffalo, grass cutter, squirrel, antelope, as well as a monkey or bat, said to be carriers of the Ebola Virus Disease.

Not that Olasehinde is bothered though. “My favourite bush meat is the male monkey. I enjoy eating the male monkey because it has fat on the chest. It tastes very delicious. I so much like eating it with beer and pepper soup,”

Bush meat — the meat of wild animals hunted in the forest or bush — is the favourite delicacy of many Nigerians; or used to be as the advent of the Ebola Virus Disease has forced most of the adherents of bush meat to abandon it.

The development has also dealt a grave blow on the bush meat industry.

The World Health Organisation had said, “The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. Fruit bats are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.”

According to the chairman of the Lagos State chapter, Jamiu Alade-Aina, there are currently over 300 hunters in the Ijede community alone.

One of the hunters in Ijede, 48-year-old Sunday Apayeu, said he kills about 200 bats a day and makes about N4,000 from the sales in one day.

Tales of economic woes

This thriving industry has, however, been gravely impacted by the Ebola scare.

Apayeju told our correspondents that bats are hunted at night and early in the morning when they usually come out, while monkeys come out early in the morning,

Grasscutters

“These bats come out at night and are around till day break. But we hunt for and kill monkeys early in the morning. I kill about 200 bats a day and sell some. In a day, I can sell one for N150 or N200, depending on the size. But with the Ebola virus in town, I don’t kill it as often as I used to because people don’t buy it anymore.

“On a daily basis, I was making about N4,000 but with Ebola, I don’t make that much again. I’m sad because this is what I use to train my children,” he said.

Mrs. Risikat Odeyemi is the Iyalode of the Bush Meat Sellers Association of Oyo State. Her shop is located in Aleshinloye Market, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

She told our correspondents that her members are now gnashing their teeth over the effect of the EVD on their business.

In Ibadan, sellers of bush meat wore a pensive mood on Wednesday as they ushered in two of our correspondents into the stall of the Iyalode.

According to Odeyemi, the members of the over 1,000 strong association had to take their grievances to Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi as they were about losing the only means of livelihood they knew.

Odeyemi, who kept lamenting the dwindling fortunes of the business after the worst ever outbreak of the Ebola Virus in West Africa, noted that she had lost over N500, 000 to low patronage which began immediately the Ebola scare began in the country.

“This is frustrating. I have used proceeds from the business to train my children through the university. It is the trade my parents bequeathed to me. I have been doing the best of my capacity before this issue of Ebola. When we went to meet the state governor, he described the issue as another phase bound to pass. I believe him but we want an urgent solution to the situation because we are jobless at the moment. We are all mothers and need to support our husbands at home,” she said.

A hunter preparing bush meat in Ijede

Though Odeyemi said no customer had patronised any of them since the Ebola outbreak, she added that those who supply them firewood to smoke the bush meat are also temporarily out of business.

The Vice President of the Oyo State body, Mrs. Suwebat Raji also stated that the hunters who supply them grass cutters; antelopes etc have nothing to do at the moment.

She said, “We continue to lose thousands of naira daily. Sellers of firewood, gun powder and hunters are also affected. We are being beaten by the same rain. The hunters cannot go on expedition anymore because if they get the bush meat, they cannot supply us since our customers have deserted us. Those who sell gun powder and carbide to the hunters cannot boast of recording sales too since the Ebola outbreak.”

The ban on eating bush meat is not the only concern for many in the industry; it is also the blanket ban on sale or eating of bush meat, which market women say has severely affected their business.

A bush meat seller, Mrs, Vivian Kosefoba, said her patronage has drastically reduced since the Ebola virus found its way into Nigeria.

“I used to make about N10,000 daily from selling bush meat, but things are tough now. It is my source of livelihood. I use the money I make from sales to pay for my children’s school fees and other expenses. But now with the Ebola scare, I’m stranded. I don’t have as much money as I used to have because there are no more buyers. I don’t have any business except this,” she said.

Alade-Aina also lamented the poor sales. “The Ebola outbreak has affected so many people. Just the other day, someone called me from Epe market crying, he said the government had sent some people to disturb them,” he said.

A 68-year-old meat seller, who didn’t want her name mentioned, said she has been selling bush meat for the past 50 years.

“Lagos State Health Management officials came to disturb the sellers; they said the government said we should not sell bush meat. I used to make between N10,000 and 20,000 from bush meat sales, but since Ebola, all the meat we bought have gone bad in the freezer, we are even hungry. People don’t buy meat from us again. Before, even the Chinese come to us, they buy monitor lizards, other animals, but not anymore. I really think the government should rectify things,” she said.

The head of market women, Oyo State, Mrs. Mojisola Oguntade, also shared the same view. “We are 62 women selling bush meat at our market along toll gate in Ibadan. Before the Ebola scare we used to get about 100 customers on a daily basis.”

“I’ve been a hunter for 55 years and I’ve never witnessed this low patronage. I was making between N20,000 and N50,000 before the Ebola thing, but with this outbreak, I don’t have money on me,” also said the Ogun State Chairman, National Hunters Association, Mr. Musiliu Ogunkoya.

Olasehinde said the hunters association and the market women have lost about N100 million since the Ebola outbreak and the ban on bush meat.

He said, “All our members across the country are complaining of the same thing. No sales. I’m surprised there are claims that Ebola is linked to monkeys and bats because this is something we have been eating for donkey years. I inherited this business from my father and no hunter has fallen ill.

“We should have been asked to bring samples of our bush meat so they can be tested to see if the virus lives in them. As far as I’m concerned, the Ebola virus may be present in monkeys and bats, but not the ones found in Nigeria. If not we should have contracted it by now. (The late) Sawyer didn’t eat our meat. All the bush meat our sellers took to the market to sell were returned, we are losing so much money. Between the time of Sawyer and now, we have lost over N100m. It is sad.”

Another resident said, “I’m sad that my fellow women who are bush meat sellers are encountering this problem. It’s because people are scared of buying bush meat. It has really affected their business. However, most people who eat it don’t believe the virus is present in our animals. It may be present in Liberia but not Nigeria. I’m not the only one that feels this, the community shares the same view.”

Doubts over virus

However, Apayeu, who has two wives and seven children, said he does not believe in the existence of the Ebola virus in Nigeria. “I don’t believe bats have the Ebola virus. My father has been eating it since and nothing happened to him,” he said

One of Olasehinde’s wives, Christiana, also said her favourite bush meat is monkey because it can be used to make any delicacy.

“A monkey has a delicious taste. My children like bush meat, they even help me out in the kitchen when I’m cooking. Sometimes they offer to burn the skin. We then cut it, remove the intestine, fry it or use it to cook stew. It is very nutritious,” she said.

Christiana further noted that bats were staple food in many homes in Ijede, like theirs.

She said, “We use bats sometimes to cook egusi soup, it has a natural taste. We don’t throw away the intestine, because it is sweet. When you eat the intestine of bats, you won’t want to eat any other thing. I guess this is because their intestine is clean. Immediately after eating, bats digest their food and they vomit the remains immediately. They are not poisonous.”

The Akogun Ode General, National Association of Hunters, Mr. Kehinde Adeoti, opined that the Ebola outbreak may have been exaggerated. “We have different types of bush meat, antelopes, grass cutters, snakes, and bats. I eat bats too, because when I was young my father told me it cures many illnesses. If one has diarrhoea, they should eat bats. I also don’t believe our animals are carrying the Ebola virus, they should prove it.”

Nine-year-old Olabanji Oladehinde said, “I’ve heard about the Ebola virus but I’m not scared. I’ve eaten bush meat all my life and I like it a lot. I don’t eat any other animal as much as I eat bush meat.”

Fourteen-year-old Ololade Olasehinde said he heard about the Ebola virus on the news but it has not stopped him from eating bush meat. “Before the arrival of Sawyer, Nigeria was free of Ebola. Despite it, I still enjoy eating bush meat because it is highly nutritious and sweeter than cow meat. I’ve been eating it since I was small,” he said.

‘Bats’ medicinal values’

Alade-Aina said bats are not only hunted for their meat, but they are also used to cure some types of diseases

“Our fore fathers used them to cure diseases. Bats, for example, are used to help with fertility. If a woman is having miscarriages, there is something on a bat’s hand that will be cooked. We are not medical doctors; we are not saying the Ebola virus is not real, but we believe that hunters should be carried along,” he explained.

Some also claimed that bats and some types of bush meat have medicinal properties.

“We prefer bush meat to other types of meat because bush animals eat fresh food and they are not injected with chemicals. Also, they are neat. You can contact tuberculosis from cow but not from bush meat, Monkey is a clean animal, it doesn’t eat anyhow, it eats natural food, leaves and the rest, and if it sees any dirt on it, it would wipe it off before climbing a tree. Also, some parts of bush dog too is medicinal, the bottom is mixed with a substance to cure convulsion in children,” said a resident who did not what to be named.

Another resident said they ensure the bats are hygienically prepared before eating it. “We roast the bats before they are eaten,” he said.

‘We have no other job’

The 67-year-old Odeyemi who said members have no preference for other job, added, “We have no other job. This is the job we have known all our lives and we are not ready to do other things.’’

Odeyemi and Raji also ate stewed bush meat prepared to prove that they were not bothered about the Ebola Virus. While munching some ‘juicy parts’ of the animal, they offered two of our correspondents a bowl containing another one which was politely declined.

The bush meat sellers’ leader said it was unbelievable that the bush meat business she had been doing for a long time could experience a lull because of ‘a funny claim.’

Odeyemi, who was in company with seven other members of the association who came from various parts of the state, stated, “This is the job we have been doing for a long time. We have not heard of such a disease before. It is so unfortunate that our customers now reply us with ‘Ebola’ each time we call on them to buy bush meat. My children told me that a foreigner who came into the country brought the disease. Our meat does not have Ebola. We want the government to help us. We are in this situation because there is no proper way to check the health status of foreigners who come into the country.’’

As she spoke, Raji, also added that having been in the business for 50 years, it was disturbing to learn that Ebola outbreak was crippling their only source of income.

Raji, who sells bush meat at Olorunsogo, Akanran Road in the Ona Ara Local Government Area of the state said she doubted if the bush meat they sell could be contaminated because of the processes of preparation.

She said, “We boil properly and wash it with salt before smoking it. We also tell the hunters that if they do not slaughter the bush meat with knives after shooting them, we would not buy. We do not want the animals to be shot at and brought to us. The way we always wash it thoroughly has made many people to patronise us. Some of our customers who are restaurants owners, educated individuals and artisans alike ate bush meat for the first time after seeing the hygienic way we prepared it.’’

Husbands’ response

The husbands of the bush meat sellers are also worried about the continued lull in the business of their wives. One of the sellers, Mrs. Rukayat Ismaila, told SUNDAY PUNCH that her husband had visited Odeyemi thrice to ask what was being done to arrest the situation.

She said, “Our husbands have been worried. They are not happy with the development. We borrowed money to run the business and it will be hard for us to pay our creditors if we have nothing to do.”

Some of the members who included Fasilatu Taiwo, Basirat Abiola, Adijat Adigun and Ajimot Asimiyu also said their husbands have been “praying along with them for the situation to end soon.”

Experts react

Despite global concerns over the hunting of animals considered to be endangered species, as well as the environmental impact, the bush meat trade in West Africa has continued for decades. In Nigeria, population increase and economic survival has made it more lucrative. Today, many, especially those in the rural areas, see the bush meat trade as a viable means of livelihood.

However, a professor of Virology and the President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Oyewale Tomori, advised that despite the age old tradition of hunting and eating bush meat in communities like Ijede, people should avoid eating bush meat.

Tomori said, “One wouldn’t know whether or not it is the one they would eat that may have Ebola. Also bear in mind that it is not the man eating the cooked meat that is in trouble, it is the hunter who shoots it and the blood of these animals get onto him, it is the one preparing the fresh animal, that is more at risk, because that is where the blood can get into his body; that could be a source of the Ebola virus.”

Tomori further said the general ban on sale and eating of bush meat would help Nigeria curtail the spread of the Ebola virus.

“Perhaps, we also need to conduct more research into this subject in Africa, which of our animals may contain this (Ebola) problem? We could study all the animals involved and find which one may carry the disease and advise on that,” he added.

The Head of Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Mrs. Chika Ndiokwelu, pointed out that eating bush meat isn’t dangerous unless there has been a case of infection in the animal.

“Bush meat isn’t harmful to the body except the animal involved has picked up an infection which is transferable to man. Some of those diseases which can be transferred to man include Lassa fever, EVD and much more. This is why humans have been warned against eating bats and monkeys during this period of Ebola outbreak,” she said.

However, Ndiokwelu said bush meat is highly nutritious and is a good source of protein, but that one has to be alive to think about nutrition.

“Bush meat is a good source of protein because they have leaner meat, less fat and less saturated fat. They are much healthier than animals that are raised in cages, those ones have more fat,” she said.

On the economic implication of people shunning bush meat, Prof. Sheriff Tella of the Department of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, said it would affect the income of traders but because this people represent a small percentage in the society it won’t affect Nigeria’s economy.

“But there is a tendency that this issue may die down within the next two, three months so people may start buying bush meat again. However, we must realise that as some people are losing, others are gaining. This period would boost the profit of those making and selling hand sanitisers, for example,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Adeboye Ayinde of the Department of Psychology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State advised the traders to remain positive.

“The psychological state at the moment may be unstable in the sense that they would be anxious about what the future holds for them. Some may experience transferred aggression, and inability to concentrate on things. Their opinion about life may change and this may affect their personality posture. They should avoid entertaining fearful thoughts. They should look for other ways to generate income for themselves,” he said.