Nigerian women consume more dog meat than their male counterparts, says Edem Eniang, a wildlife expert in Nigeria.
Eniang, a professor of wildlife at the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom state, told PREMIUM TIMES in an exclusive interview on January 17 that the rate at which Nigerian women eat dog meat is influenced by their belief that This delicacy helps improve your skin. “soft and subtle.”
“So nowadays (Nigerian) women appreciate dog meat much more than men,” Eniang said, adding that “every woman wants soft skin.”
PREMIUM TIMES asked Mr Eniang how he came to the conclusion that women consume more dog meat than men.
“I attended a lecture presented by a learned Nigerian professor, Professor Richard King (zoologist), and that is what I learned from his lecture,” he replied.
Seemingly corroborating Mr Eniang’s claim, a student of the communication arts department of the University of Uyo, told this newspaper that she has a friend in Uyo who usually keeps dog meat in a freezer at home and uses it to prepare pepper soup when she feels
“I eat dog meat, I like it,” said student Eunice Ukeme.
Eniang said dogs are now scarce in the country due to the increase in the rate at which Nigerians eat them.
“Three days ago I witnessed in Ukpenekang, Ibeno Local Government Area (Akwa Ibom State) where the police arrested a man and handcuffed him on a Sunday morning. Because? He stole his own brother’s dog and killed it. While the dog was being roasted, an informant told his brother. The brother went to the police, and the police came and handcuffed him,” Enang said.
“That same Sunday, around 10 in the morning, when leaving Ibeno, I headed to Orón beach. In that museum (in Oron) I saw some puppies. They were so small, but beautiful. I was afraid to approach them because I was afraid his mother was somewhere watching. But a boy of about 11 years old came to me and told me that they had no mother. I said, ‘What happened?’ He said that two days after the puppies were delivered, someone stole her mother and took her and killed her to consume her.
“The puppies were six years old, two died, I saw four. “I was able to photograph two of them,” said the professor.
Eniang later sent the photos of the puppies via WhatsApp to a PREMIUM TIMES reporter.
“I am trying to emphasize the fact that dog meat consumption has reached a phenomenal level in Nigeria,” he told the journalist.
‘Akwa Ibom is not the largest consumer of dog meat’
Eniang refuted the assumption that Akwa Ibom consumes more dogs than any other state in Nigeria.
“If you want to classify, according to my experience and research, the area with the highest consumption of dogs is Nike in Enugu State. If you go to the Nike market, they have a dog meat section, very large, and consumers even sit there and eat while others shop and go home. “It goes very well with palm wine,” he stated.
“Then the next place will be Plateau State. They consume dog, it reached a point where the former governor of the state banned the consumption of alcohol in the morning because people combined it with dog meat, they will leave office in the morning to go eat dog meat. There you can see dog meat roasted like Suya and sold on the streets. If you are not aware, you will end up eating it. Third place will now be Akwa Ibom, so to speak.”
PREMIUM TIMES journalist in Enugu, Chinagorom Ugwu, confirmed Mr. Eniang’s claim on the high rate of dog meat consumption in Nike area, Enugu State.
Nike is a clan of about 25 communities and our reporter, Mr. Ugwu, is from the Ugwogo-Nike community in Nike.
“It’s hard to see someone from Nike who doesn’t eat dog meat. In fact, it is almost impossible,” Ugwu said on Wednesday.
Ugwu, however, does not eat dog meat, he said.
“Their belief (at Nike) is that dog meat can cure malaria. They believe that it is something that can cleanse the body’s system,” said the journalist.
Should Nigeria ban the consumption of dog meat?
PREMIUM TIMES asked Mr Eniang if the Nigerian government should follow South Korea’s example by banning the consumption of dog meat.
“The example of South Korea cannot work in Nigeria because in Korea the basic necessities of life are available and people who eat dogs do so out of cultural attachment, while in our place (Nigeria) the government has not implemented anything to cushion the situation. the lack of meat, the lack of fish,” Eniang responded.
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Eniang, who said he himself does not eat dog meat, argued that Nigerians are suffering from deprivation and therefore the government would be fighting a losing battle if it tries to ban the consumption of dog meat.
“People who raised chickens cannot do so again due to lack of food; Poultry feed is beyond the reach of the average person. People have stopped raising fish because they cannot afford to feed them,” she stated.