A member of the House of Representatives, Garba Datti, who sponsored a Bill seeking the preservation of donkeys, which had been passed by the House has stated that the animal would “soon go into extinction, if nothing is done.”
Stating that donkeys were of essential economic value to the rural people, especially in northern Nigeria, he said there had been a high rate of brutal killings of the animal, aided by black market trading in its skin.
“The donkey is a great source livelihood to rural people. They use it for transportation of their farm produce to far places where they can access modern means of transpiration. They use them to carry water from the stream which is the only source of water supply in the rural communities. They are of great economic values to them, so something has to be done,” he said.
Datti also said the population of the animal “is fast depleting, and if not arrested may lead to extinction in few years to come.”
The lawmaker said the brutal killing of the animals in recent time was fuelled by the influx of Chinese traders, who stormed Nigeria in search of their skins, “which is reported to be an essential ingredient of a popular traditional medicine in China.”
He said statistics suggested just a population of two million donkeys in the country, and a reported killing of about 2,500 daily, “with no deliberate policy of breeding,” even as he stressed that the issue had assumed a global concern.
Earlier, at the public hearing during the week, several stakeholders, including Donkey Sanctuary (a UK-based Foundation), the Nigeria Veterinary Medical Association, and Dr. Muhammed Etudaiye spoke in support of the Bill, while a few others kicked against its passage.
It eventually scaled third reading on Thursday.
