Agency 'arrests' 355 goats for sanitation offences

[usman11]

Agency 'arrests' 355 goats for sanitation offences

By Agency Reporter

The Kaduna State Environmental Protection Authority says it has arrested 335 goats for sanitation offences between January 2008 and April 2009.

The General Manager, KEPA, Alhaji Ibrahim Husseini, who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna on Wednesday, said that the agency generated N162,000 from fines paid on the goats.

He said that owners of the goats were made to pay N500 fine per goat.

He said that that the measure was introduced to free the Kaduna metropolis from the menace of stray animals.

Husseini, however, conceded that ongoing street decongestion activities and the just-concluded polytechnic Games had led to the temporary cessation of the exercise.

He said that policy was adopted, following complaints from farmers, residents and business owners about stray animals destroying their crops and gardens.

He said that the agency would resume the seizure of stray animals on April 27, urging breeders of domestic animals to respect existing environmental laws.

He said, "We have repeatedly urged the owners of the animals to constrain the movement of their and curtail their nuisance to the environment but all efforts have so far proved abortive."

He warned that the agency would no longer release arrested animals to their owners without fully applying the sanctions, so as to serve as a deterrent.

[usman11]

I don't see how this is an environmental issue. This is why I do not understand why a Federal or State Environmental Agency should be enforcing livestock statutes. Total waste of time, resource, and manpower. This is clearly an issue for animal control workers, whose job should not be limited to removing stray animals from communities, but to investigate and cite animal cruelty cases. The animal control department should also be responsible for rescuing distressed animals and relocating them to a shelter.

The Enviromental Agency should really focus on issues affecting the environment such as pollution, emission standards, chemicals pollutants, drainage system, run off water into lakes, industrial pollution, safety standard that apply to the environment, environmental sanitation, waste control, recycling facilities, etc. These are their responsibilities. Chasing stray goats is not their job, and it is laughable that they are out there enforcing 'goat offence law'.

In any case, the one question I ask is this, do they 'arrest' cattles and cows as well? What about Donkeys? Do these laws apply to stray Cows because cows based on size pose a bigger 'environmental' risk. I think it would make a more sense to pass a city ordinace that prohibits keeping livestock in residential homes, neighborhoods, and communities within city limits. If people insist on owning livestock, then they should move out of city limits to the countryside where the landscape is suitable for raising livestock. Yes, it is a nuisance to see stray goats cross a highway thereby disrupting traffic or worse creating a safety hazard.

Several years ago when I visited the north, I was accustomed to seeing herdsmen herd their cattles on public roads. Even in Lagos, it was not uncommon to see Herdsmen just herding their cattles along highways to the utter frustration of motorists. I am not sure if this practice still continues, but I don't see the productivity in Cattle herding in this era. I recall also that a lot of the herdmen had little boys our age alongside them, helping with the herding task. Those kids at that age should be in school getting an education, not travelling great distances herding livestock. A better approach would be to confine those herds to an area...a farm, or a ranch, and then deliver cattle feed to the animals so they can graze within that confinement.

Well, I may have gone off the primary topic here but I just recalled something from memory, and realize how more efficient we could be if we just applied some thought to some of our practices.

[Muhsin]

I wish it were Almajirai who were arrested in the sanitation process, for I am certain they contribute more than any other factor in polluting, denting and degrading our environment. Mst! Allah ya kiyaye.

[Dan-Borno]

usman11, i wont say thank god that you no dey for naija, but i
can say ur lucky that ur not around to see things for yourself.
whatever you knew before, if its a problem, then, it has increased,
if its a good thing, then  it has deteriorated from bad to worse,
government is no longer interested in issues like this.  i can still
recall of recent in the late 90s when the state government will
use machine to spray mosquitor repellants throughout the state
to prevent the breeding of mosquitors and terminating the lifes
of the living one thereby reducing the number of cases on malaria
and other related  - this is now history.

the government no longer take these things as its responsibilities
except for them to engage contstructions of new buildings, be it
primary, secondary or any new tertiary institution or office blocks,
they are only interested in the amount of money going out on
contract basis, they dont even bother to manage the existing ones.

my oldman did his primary school in GUBIO TOWN, 89 kilometers
from maiduguri in 1938, then, they did theirs under the three
without any structural building.  during rainy season, they have
to move to the house of the village head - however, despite that
situation, they acquire quality and standard education of international
repute.  this same school that my oldman attended in 1938 has been
re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-novatedconstructedmanaged more
than a million times - the results and performances of the students
attending the school is deteriorating in a galloping style. where are
we going?

Usman2, if government can not improve a 1938 primary school, i doubt
if it can create any meaningful project to its people.  of course, these
herdsmen you see them crossing over the way they want have their
reasons. 

listen

Wuda Taye Forest Reserve is in Mafa Local Govt. of Borno state, this
forest was gazetted by Government under the Northern Region Legal Notice
No. 29 of 1957 captioned "THE FORESTRY ORDINANCE (CHAPTER 75)
BORNU NATIVE AUTHORITY No 32 WUDA TAYE FOREST RESERVE ORDER,
1957.  the Law is intended to prohibit unwanted destruction of live trees
and burning of the bush within the specied area which is 99.959km2.  If as
far back as 1957, then leaders see vision in reserving the place for a particular
purpose, i see no reason why in 2009, this same game reserve will not be
a place to be - alas, it has turn to a battle ground between animal rearers and
illegal tree destroyers.  my point in the above reference is the lackdaisical
attitude of today's government to issues like environmental protection
and preservation, town planning and (further) development, rural development,
provision of portable drinking water, upgrading of our primary education
status and lots more to be given to the masses which in turn government will
deserve respect from the other end.

things no longer work this way usman11, this situation is now affecting us (masses),
because we no longer respect any law, for example, the recent introduction of
helmet on all motorcyclist, very few states were able to implement and enforce
this new law, not even in mararraba very close to abuja.  so also to other similar
laws.

[HUSNAA]

Arrest is the wrong term used in the report. I'd rather like to think that the Kaduna environmental agency rounded up stray goats and then fined their owners for letting them stray. All in all a good thing. Come on Usman 11. OK granted its a bit archaic at this day and age to be rounding off goats and the like, KEPA surely has better things to do. But please give them credit for doing something. They could as well have opted to do nothing about the menace of goats and other animals in residential areas. So which is worse, to do something no matter how woefully ridiculous it looks on the surface or to just not do anything and thereby compound the situation? At least by doing this we hope that it eventually leads them to do some of the other things that you have mentioned, especially as there is revenue to be made in the process.

[gogannaka]

What KEDA did is correct. It is just so unfortunate how stray animals would be roaming the streets causing unneccessary accidents. If a person cannot properly take care of his animals why would he/she let them roam the streets any how? They become a nuisance,kiwon Allah ya isa.
Like Muhsin said it is not only animals that are left roaming the streets anyhow,even children nowadays are left unattended to,just like the animals. You start to wonder whether the parents that gave birth to these children really care for them.

Regarding Almajirai muhsin,the lagos state govt has started 'rounding up' almajirai and mad people.

[Dan-Borno]

GGNK and Muhsin, lagos state or any other state from the south
can successfully implement that programme of wiping away the
almajiri's on their street but not here in the north, sam sam bazai
yiwu ba, impracticable.