Bird Flu: Poultry Farmer Cautions Members

Following the disclosure last Thursday by the Federal Government of another outbreak of the dreaded bird flu otherwise known as Avian Influenza in 26 states of the federation, a poultry farmer in Rivers State, Mr Nicholas Frank, has called on poultry farmers in the state to seek the assistance of experts to avert spread of the virus in their farms.
Frank who spoke to The Tide in an exclusive interview on Monday said some of his members were yet to recover from the losses they incurred between 2015 and 2016 following the outbreak of the Avian Influenza Virus that led to the closure of eleven poultry farms and the death of two poultry farmers in Bauchi State.
According to the report, the virus has not only been recorded in 26 states but also in the federal capital territory, with over 3.5 million birds culled for two years.
Adding another dimension to the ugly development, the Zonal Secretary, Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria, North-East, Mr Abdulraman Raji, said the nonpayment of compensation to farmers during the outbreak has been source of worry to members.
However, The Tide gathered that the Minister of Agriculture Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, had said during the week at a consultative meeting in Abuja, with stakeholders in the poultry industry, that a new strain of the bird flu virus (H5 N8) was reported in Kano State.
Poultry farmers at the meeting urged the federal government to complete the payment of compensation to farmers who lost millions of naira as a result of the previous outbreaks of the virus in Nigeria.
The Director General, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Mr Onallo Akpa, said the federal government had paid only N300 million to poultry farmers out of the N2 billion compensation it was supposed to pay farmers for culling 3.5 million birds between December 20014 and December 2016.
“Not less than 21 of our members were greatly affected in 2015. Out of this five have yet to be compensated.
“In 2016, six of our members were also affected and none of them have received any compensation”, he lamented.
Efforts to speak with the Director/HOD, Livestock and Veterinary Service, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Allswell Emejuru, before going to press was not successful. But a source at the ministry who craved anonymity said the government was on top of the matter.