Poisonous Mess: Lautech DSA Plans to Infect Ogb Community With Reeking Poultry Farm

 

Ibadan, Ogbomoso [July 20, 2023] — Despite the terrible danger health specialists have said poultry farms around residential buildings can pose, the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Dean Student Affairs, (DSA) and Professor in Animal Nutrition and Biotechnology Department, Azeem Ige, has refused to obey the general rules, working towards the wellbeing of the people. Instead, he has a reeking poultry farm in his residence which is surrounded with more than ten residences occupied by people, The PIJAlance Research and Investigations Desk (RID) Team, found.

 

Located at Abaa, Area of Ogbomoso North Local Government, the poultry farm is famous for putrid odour that has made the part of the community not only synonymous to fetid vicinity where offensive smells are constant; it has redefined its ambience’s natural fragrance to one frequented with a chicken waste niff.

 

This is the first time The PIJAlance would be writing about this case. But this was not the first time RID team had contacted Professor Ige on the complaints of the community members and the need for him to adjust. However, he chose otherwise.

 

The first time RID correspondent contacted him was in 2022 through his verified contact. He didn’t pick up and neither did he respond to a Whatssap message sent to him having read it.

 

RID team restrained from writing the story then because it was observed the odour was suppressed.

 

But more recently, from January to May 2023, RID correspondent spoke with sources within the part of the community who would love their identities veiled. And the majority of them agreed that the smell coming out from the poultry farm is minging and fusty. They agreed that it is disturbing them but none of them knew how dangerous it could be to their health so, many of them kept quiet.

 

Asked what he feels about the poultry farm and the alleged reeking odour, a community member said that Professor Ige “rears more chicken, didn’t seem to be taking any measure to mitigate the smell and it is currently unbearable but most people would not talk because they’re gossip.”

Another community member said “maybe because of the rain, it (the smell) has never been this strong during the dry season.”

 

“There has never been a time we’re free from the odour,” Matthew (not the real name) contrastingly countered in a separate interview with the RID correspondent. “Those who said it is because of incessant rain should think again.”

 

Professor Ige, when asked the second time about the measures he takes on the poultry farm on February 26, 2023 through a WhatsApp conversation, had said the community members are just being mischievous while acknowledging that he is a learned person and he takes an adequate measure to suppress the odour, consistently.

 

“Good morning sir, I am just seeing your message,” he replied on February 27, 2023 to the message sent on February 26, 2023. “Their claims are not true, it is a backyard poultry and I also live there, they are just been (sic) mischievous, if you are in Ogbomoso, you can visit the area unannounced. I put adequate measure (sic) in place and it is zero odour. I am a learned person as well. Each time they complain, I do visit their house for confirmation and even invited (sic) other people in the area for their judgement but we were unable to perceive any form of smell. Continuously I am putting effort and it is always zero odour. Thank you.”

Questioned the reason he didn’t reply to our previous message and call in 2022, he said “Your line is not on my phone contact list and I get a lot of calls, I always call back, not calling you back might have been as a result of mix up.”

 

As requested by the Professor, The PIJAlance RID correspondent visited the vicinity unannounced and found that the putridity of the smell is indeed a pong. From the first to the second streets where the poultry farm and Professor Ige’s residence linked together; the smell was so disgusting, minging and redolent.

 

Though, community members have said Professor Ige has always said he never perceived the odour as they do; the strong smell could endanger him and his family, too.

 

Maybe the measures put in place were not effective or were not done at all during the time of our correspondent’s visit.

 

Pictures taken of the poultry farm and the waste barn show nothing near tidiness but a musty pungency. While taking the pictures, the smell was choking and breath had to be blocked for a few seconds so as to not inhale the reeking odour, our correspondent said.

Worthy of note in an article published by the PMNews Nigeria in 2019, there is absolutely a bigger danger in the stench emanating from poultry farms that no one really knows. Adding that “unless the farmer has complied with the setbacks guidelines and other safety regulations; airborne infections such as respiratory problems, asthma or chronic airway obstruction, bacterial and fungal diseases can be contacted by the people.”

 

 

Setbacks, according to the article “means the distance allowance that must be given between the location of a poultry farm and residential buildings and other structures. For residential buildings other than poultry farms the setback must not be less than 500 feet; for public places such as schools, churches or mosques, it must not be less than 1,500 feet; for public roadways, it is 150 feet; and for streams, it is, at least, 100 feet.”

 

 

For professor Ige’s poultry farm, none of these setback guidelines were obeyed and yet the owner has said it is taking adequate measures and he is a learned person.

 

 

The article noted that the health risk is worse for the workers in poultry. This is the reason there are standard safety rules and regulations every poultry farm must comply with in order to safeguard the health and welfare of their workers.”

 

Other diseases that can be contacted through the stench emanating from the poultry farm are: bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic diseases. Salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, tuberculosis, and avian influenza.

 

 

Professor Ige is also a learned lecturer in animal production and agricultural extension.

 

 

It is unimaginable how such a don seems to be subconsciously and allegedly planning to infect his community with the listed diseases above, despite knowing the dangers behind it.

 

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