#Ebola: Bushmeat sellers protest on low patronage in Ibadan

by David Cyril

Hundreds of bush meat sellers were gathered at the Oyo State Governor’s Office, the Oyo State Secretariat, Ibadan, yesterday August 18, 2014 complaining of low patronage due to the outbreak of Ebola virus.

Alhaja Risikat Odeyemi, Iyalode, Spokesperson of the Bushmeat Association, Oyo State, said it was strange that bush meat which had hitherto been taken as a special delicacy should now be seen as a poison.

“Our meat does not have any ebola virus. We don’t know why people should just be peddling rumour that would be injurious to other people. This is not good at all. They have spoilt our business without any good reason. What we heard is that the disease was contacted through the river. Why should they just start trying to be so unfair?”

The women said that before the announcement, a grass cutter was being sold between N2,000 and N4,000 and the same thing goes for antelope and other animals. But, now they regretted that there are no sales again, adding, “We normally stand by the roadside to invite prospective buyers. But now when we call them to buy bush meat, they always reply us saying, “ebola”. It is the same meat we have been eating and nothing has happened to us.”

Meanwhile the association has appealed to Governor Abiola Ajimobi, of Oyo State, to help them address the public that bushmeat is not the cause of Ebola.

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