Herds of cattle have become so common place on major Kaduna streets that they are beginning to gain the prestige of sacred cows found on the streets of Calculta in India. The only difference here is that the Kaduna cattle are almost always with a herdsman and most residents hate them but have no choice but to tolerate them.
These bovines graze on any available green area. A resident may be jolted by the loud mooing of a bull as it munches fodder behind his home alongside others in the herd leaving behind smelly dungs. They can be seen scavenging on the many garbage dumps in the town.
Hundreds of growers of vegetables and other crops in the city have had tales to tell about the damages these loose cows have done to their farms.
Oftentimes, they are very irksome on the roads where they cause traffic gridlock and even accidents as they hold motorists to ransom as they leisurely stroll on the motorways.
Around 8 o’clock every morning, you could see them leaving different parts of town, even areas like Gambarua Road and Unguwan Rimmi GRA, where former Vice President Namadi Sambo has his home. They also emerge from around Sultan Road, where President Muhammadu Buhari, the late Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua and Alhaji Sa’ad Usman, chief of Jere, live.
10,000 cows out there
A herd may have between 30 and 50 cows. And at least 200 of such herds may be out on Kaduna streets each day. This means that between 6,000 and 10,000 cows roam the metropolis each day in search of food to the detriment of the population of over two million people.
Health hazard
Livestock generally could pose health risks to humans when in contact. Doctor Wazri Audu, who runs a private veterinary firm in Kaduna, told Sunday Vanguard that cattle and other livestock can transfer deadly sickness, known as zoonotic diseases, to humans.
Said the CEO of Goodwill Veterinary Service, Sabo, Kaduna: “These diseases can also be transferred from humans to animals too. It is not healthy for cows to stray into residential areas. Some are diseased and their droppings can infect persons when contacted through water use, on vegetables or even if you touch them or objects they have come in contact with.
“I am not saying most of these cows are sick, but it is not civilised to allow them roam like we see them do in this city.
“Zoonotic diseases are easily detected in developed countries, but are no less severe in Nigeria. In fact, cattle are more guilty of this and there are, at least, 15 known diseases that cattle can pass to us. They are leptospirosis, listeriosis, pseudocowpoxy. Others are anthrax, brucellosis, cryptosporidiosis, dermatophilosis. Then we have ringworm, salmonellosis, tuberculosis, vesicular stomatitis. The rest are escherichia coli, giardiasis,
Q fever and rabies.
“They are difficult to detect among humans in this country, and, as such, it is the duty of government to help reduce the contact of these animals with humans who have no business handling them”.
And the violation of the environmental regime comes with its cost at times.
On March 13, 2012, no fewer than 11 cows were crushed by a moving train in Kaduna metropolis. The cows, valued at about N1.2 million by the owner, were killed as they strayed into the rail-line under an overhead bridge adjacent to Dambo International School, Barnawa. However, the tragedy is regarded as a tiny loss compared to what the owners fear losing should the bovines be kept in their farms in far away bushes with rustlers on the prowl.
The fear of rustlers
In fact, the activities of rustlers are said to make owners of big commercial farms, several kilometres from Kaduna in which cattle farming is carried out by rich residents, to relocate the animals to their backyards against environmental laws.
For example, in 2013, it was reported that a former vice president lost about N100 million, about 1,000 cows, to thieves in his farm along the crime-prone Birnin Gwari – Kaduna Road. Many retired army generals, serving and former public office holders, among other rich Kaduna residents, have lost a great number of cattle in the past in their farms and ranches.
The evidence of this, perhaps, is the July 9, 2015 killing of three and arrest of nine rustlers in Birnin Gwari and the recovery of over 2,000 cows from them, in a special military operation.
This is a problem that has been daunting to the agency saddled with the responsibility of protecting the environment in Kaduna State.
“Though we have been having this problem of livestock roaming Kaduna metropolis, it has increased very with the rise of cattle rustling”, said the General Manager, Kaduna State Environmental Protection Authority, KEPA. He spoke to Sunday Vanguard after he was permitted by Kaduna State Ministry of Environment.
He said: “Rustling has compounded our problem because, as you can see, the owners of these cattle see the towns as safe places away from these cattle thieves. It is not all of them with cows inside the city that are big men. Even ordinary Fulani people are now forced to relocate to near or in some parts of the town.
“It may be true that some of the cows roaming this city may belong to important persons, but I have not seen any of them come here when we are fining offenders. Yes, I am aware that in some of these places you mentioned, there are cows there and they must belong to the VIPs. The fine is N5,000 after we seize any of the cows, usually the ones we can haul into our vehicles. We do not have the capacity to arrest more than five cows at a time. Even at that, where is the space to confine them?
“When any cow is brought here, the Fulani man comes and pays promptly and is back on the street with it. Maybe it makes more sense to pay N5,000 fine and keep your herd safe. He may be doing so on behalf of the rich owner, but, honestly, I don’t know.
“Section 11 (1) (vi) of KEPA Law 2010 clearly makes the movement of animals on the streets illegal and Section 22 (1)(b) forbids the rearing or keeping of animals in built-up areas.
“But we are going to get tougher very soon. Before now, if I tell you our staff strength, you will be sad. It is too small for the kind of work we are doing. The same goes with vehicles and other working materials.
“The new governor, Mallam El Rufai, has assured us that he will employ more hands, give us more working facilities”.
Governor Nasir El Rufai had, in his address to the state on July 29, 2015, confirmed the position of the boss of KEPA.
Said the governor: “Our drive to recruit 50 youths per ward in the next four years to work in some government agencies – as traffic, environmental and sanitary inspectors, will commence this year with about 10 persons per ward. We have reconstituted the board and leadership of Kaduna State Traffic and Environmental Law Enforcement Agency, KASTELEA, to enable this process to start soon. These job openings are being advertised soon”.
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