FG, Donkey Breeders differ over trade ban, consumption
The Donkey Breeders Association of Nigeria(DBAN) and the Nigerian government are in disagreement over the ban on donkey trade and consumption.
The Government, via the Director General, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Dr. Vincent Isegbe, had in January, banned the export and consumption of donkey because it was going into extinction.
Isegbe had said, “Donkey slaughter, Donkey trade, Donkey meat, Donkey hide are illegal business. And that is why when we see, we confiscate or we destroy. Do not involve in anything that has to do with donkey.
“The genetic improvement for Donkey breeders has a programme which we just organised. The project is a tripartite arrangement between the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, the National Agricultural Production Research Institute in Zaria and those involved in Donkey trading.”
But, the National Chairman of Donkey Breeders Association, Dike Ifeanyi, at a recent press briefing in Abuja, disclosed that the Federal Government should rescind the ban and institutionalise policies to regulate the business.
Ifeanyi added that the decision has plunged thousands of investors into untold hardship.
