DOCUMENTARY: Karu Abattoir; The cost of feeding Abuja

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:11]meat is more than just food in Nigeria.

[00:00:16]It is culture. It is tradition. It is survival.

[00:00:22]From steaming pots in city kitchens to fireside meals in rural homes, it is a daily staple.

[00:00:29]And behind every C of meat is a vast fastmoving industry. One that keeps thousands of Nigerians employed, especially young people navigating a tough economy.

[00:00:52]At least 100,000 3 million 2.5 2 million 150 1 million 500,000 500,000 600 400 people that are finding what one thing or to do in the abattoire to benefit their economic life are more than 1,000. I'm assuring you that uh apart from those that carry animals from far distances that's the the dealers that buy animals from other places to bring it there for slaughter.

[00:02:01]There are other people that are engaged in offloading those animals. That's their way how they get their livelihood.

[00:02:09]There are those that are butchers, the ones processing the animals for a market as meat. Apart from these people, there are those that are involved in roasting uh cow heads, cow legs and skin. And then those that are involved in slaughtering small women and sheep and goats. They are there. There are so many. Apart from these categories of people, there are other people again that come to sell other things that are uh the household may need together with the meat, especially vegetable and soup ingredient sellers.

[00:02:54]But there is another side to this story, one we rarely see.

[00:03:00]Buying a supply that feeds millions lies a system few people question.

[00:03:08]How is this meat processed? Under what condition? And at what cost to our health and to our environment?

[00:03:18]In Abuja, four major government owned abattours are meant to set the standard.

[00:03:24]But what happened on the ground tells a very different story. Ko abata to those women I have the foresight that karun abata I want to believe that they didn't look at they did not study the environmental impact assessment because in every project you have to look at the impact the environmental impact assessment positively and negatively.

[00:03:59]But it's unfortunate that for the past 20 years mate have impacted the vendors cow and sheep and goats that are selling but the community that I know caro I have not seen the impact in caro because it was established to generate revenue for FCDA for AMACH of for community. You know this essence cannot spell out for a common man to understand that could be the positive impact of it.

[00:04:46]Oh yes we need meat to eat. People need meat and car being the outskirt of the boundary of FCT maybe have considered that close to a river a river where I grew up. I used to go and fetch water that is the native name of that abattoire zora gardener.

[00:05:13]People go there to fetch water.

[00:05:16]But today can car people go there to fresh water even to wash.

[00:05:23]>> Every day thousands of cattles arrive at Kuo Abatua from across northern Nigeria.

[00:05:30]It is a herb of kas a lifeline for traders a source of millions in revenue.

[00:05:36]>> Actually even as of then it wasn't 5 million naira monthly because there are a lot of leakages at that time.

[00:05:53]experience leakages meat processing in the abattoire is a chain is a complex chain. Um once the animal arrives in the abattoire mostly from the northeast north northeast not northwest or central some from central here they are offloaded in the lage there and then from there they are watered they are you allow them to rest there from there you move them to the lage where they will be inspected there they stay for not less than 24 hours and at that point they will tell they will tie them here the veterary doctors will come and carry out antimotm inspection.

[00:06:46]Antimot inspection involves checking the animal whether it is fit to be slaughtered. You use your visual examination. You may just rub your hand on it to check if there are lumps or other things. Check some papable lymph nodes. There are some lymph nodes. If they are if they protrude it show that there is a problem somewhere. If once you are satisfied and that it should go for slaughter then they are passed. From there they go to the main slaughter hall. In the slaughter hall the animal is casted on the floor there and then they t we are using the the traditional uh manual method of slaughtering here they are casted on the floor and with just a transverse stroke uh on the neck region they slaughter the cow.

[00:07:32]>> But as the business has grown the facilities has not kept pace.

[00:07:38]What stands here today is not just an abatura. It is a system on the strain.

[00:08:33]This is the carriage. The holding area for cattle before slaughter.

[00:08:38]Ideally, it should be orderly, clean and well drained. Instead, the ground is thick with dongs and soak in urine.

[00:08:47]There is no proper drainage, no real system for managing waste.

[00:09:32]There are no modern slaughtering facilities here. Animals are killed on bare ground.

[00:09:38]As more traders arrive and more animals are brought in, the pressure only increases.

[00:09:45]There are signs of expansion, but progress is slow and far from enough.

[00:09:50]>> I would like to start by saying we have made quite a number of progress since the last 2 years. As you have seen a water installation, 40,000 capacity. So now water have been provided almost adequately in the facility. So the challenge of the Lidge which you spoke about yeah is usually muddy and messy during the raining season due to lack of proper drainage and lack of concrete flooring. It's really really a difficult season season for us during raining season because the animals have to be taken through a different route to get them to the slaughter and even if they're going to be pushing a wooden truck the cost is between 5,000 to 10,000. So it's an extra cost on the people that own the animal and wants to slaughter the animal. Then even at that if we have weak animals that maybe are recumbent the mud is so much that some animals can even drown in it. So is one of our major challenges but we believe that the top management are looking into it and in no time hopefully we'll be able to do what is needed for the facility to be cleanable because hygiene is of essence.

[00:10:52]You know >> some facilities exist but they fall short.

[00:11:00]This is where hygiene begins to break down.

[00:11:05]While alternatives like firewood is available, some butchers still burn scrap rubber tires to process animal skin.

[00:11:15]Here, survival is about speed. A butcher ends as little as 200 naira per goat.

[00:11:22]Margins are thin, time is everything, and so corners are caught.

[00:11:27]We are we still have a we still have a have a talk with our manager how they go power power us with our payment because everything is cost we are collecting 22 200 naira each one go >> 200 naira each one hosting that we collecting >> and you roasting >> no they're not daily how they the number of go where person if he go give me the money of thank god See so how it is I'm not a doctor but doctor the command from SCD that tire has infect so then even me I'm going hospital check myself sometimes I understand so the have infect so better let us follow the issue the director from FCD the results hang heavily in the air, thick smoke, toxic fumes, fine black suits that settle on rooftops, on cars, even on food.

[00:12:39]Abatto sit in the middle of a densely populated community. For residents, this is not occasionally exposure. It is daily life.

[00:12:49]A common man may not know the chemical damage and the biological damage where he's living.

[00:13:00]The tire that are being burnt to roast their goat and cows is what we call carbon monoxide.

[00:13:13]Carbon monoxide is dangerous to any living thing. the worst it goes up and the ozone layer is affected.

[00:13:23]So not car people that are affected the entire world are affected.

[00:13:28]Now an asthmatic patient if you smoke that m is at risk for over 20 years. People like Samson Chibu have lived here. They've raised families, build homes, and endured the consequences. Living with a custom smell, adapting to an environment that has slowly changed around them.

[00:13:57]Um, it was the it was poor circulation of blood. Yes. That triggered my BP. In fact, as I it really affected me is by the grace of God that I was able to people around were able to revive me. So when I went to the hospital the BP was about almost 190 plus. So by the grace of God I became normal. They say some factors they mention some factors uh about three factors. So among those three factors two we are not directly but when they mention about the kind of air I breathe I say yes I've been healing bad air for the past 20 years.

[00:14:39]So I believe that could contribute to my illness.

[00:14:44]>> Nature has not been spared either.

[00:14:47]Animals that once roamed this area are gone. At the waste dump, cacas and condemned animal parts are left in the open. No burial, no incineration. When it rains, the waste flows inside nearby streams. Water sources become contaminated. The stench becomes unbearable. And the risk of disease quietly grows.

[00:15:10]>> Carbon monoxide honestly is really affecting us. And the smell coming from some of the activities see dead animals as you can see. You can see for yourself. So it's not a propaganda or something that somebody just came up somewhere and forged. You see blood there. That place is that place is not abattoa. It's not part of abattoa. Abata is lying between Abuja and Nasarawa. So the ending of that abat is where Abuja ends. This place we are staying now is Nasawa state.

[00:15:40]>> Okay.

[00:15:41]>> Yes. So the activities has extended to this place and it's really affecting.

[00:15:46]Look at blood there. When visitors are coming they cannot even breathe. We in our rooms we cannot breathe. Even inside our room sometimes in the night bad will wake you up. Sometimes smoke will wake you up. And it's really affecting us honestly. If there can be a way they can government can come to our aid, maybe provide a facility for them. Yes, we are not really against them but the activities are really affecting us honestly. But the challenges don't stop there. Residents say parts of the abattoire have become a refuge for criminal activities.

[00:16:19]With weak oversight, the environment has created space for drug use and other illegal acts to thrive. As I said that when you go there as a visitor to buy meat, you see K peacefully. But let me tell you the worst thing that I said is not benefiting today. If you take statistics the indigenous baggy community, how many of our children are dropped out in schools because of the h the negative impact of this?

[00:16:53]Why drugs add this smokers mara so many are taking place there in fact that place is a drug barons the NDLA and other organization can prove that many government have come they want to locate abatto that not be effective so if you go there at the b at the boundary Now eh don't go with your camera just stand and watch and see what is happening that's where hard drugs are being sold out sold in that environment so now if my son leave this house now he sneak out and go and take something there yes his behavior I only noticed through his behavior I'm not I'm such an example but let me tell you the community is at very risk no house out of 100% maybe we just see 10% that are not victim of this apacha when we grew up we don't know what is India when we don't know what is color we don't know what is cordin we don't know what we do not know them but today That is the dungeon. That's the airport where our children go.

[00:18:27]I'm speaking on camera. Let somebody prove me that I'm telling lies.

[00:18:31]>> Ko Abatto feeds Abuja. But feeding a city should not come at the cost of poisoning it people.

[00:18:39]There are efforts to improve according to the management. But for many change feels too slow and the stakes too high.

[00:18:48]The Monday secretary agrial development secretariat uh inaugurated a committee on abattoire upgrade all the four abat upgrade of all the four abattoars in the FCT. Last year he inaugurated uh the committee comprising of expert in engineers engineering department building builders and I was a co-chairman of that committee that committee went around all the four the the four owned abattoire including private abattoires and they assess the needs how the abato structures should be uh transformed to meet up with the standard of today's uh development and so that committee has swung into action they have submitted their report with standard plan of how abattoire should look like and I'm assuring you the administration is doing something about it the the there's asurances that uh the abattoire the the minister will approve it and then our abattoire will be transformed to a standard one to a to to standard abattoire that is uh can be seen all over the around the world.

[00:20:19]>> A growing city must be fed but it must also be protected.

[00:20:25]For car abattoire to truly serve Abuja urgent action is needed. modern facilities, proper drainage, clean hygienic slaughtering process, effective waste management, including functional incinerators, dangerous practice like burning tires must end. Regulation must be enforced. The space must be expanded, reorganized, and secured. And most importantly, the voice of the community must be heard because in the end, this is not just about the meat. It is about health. It is about the kind of city Abuja chooses to be.