Man Sells Vulture As Roasted Chicken

Those in the habit of buying and eating roasted chicken from road-side vendors should have a rethink as some greedy individuals now sell vulture as chicken.

The illicit trade, which is booming in Akwa Ibom State, was confirmed when a mammoth crowd on Saturday at Urua Ikot Odiong in Eket Local Government Area observed how a young man packed over ten vultures in a Ghana-Must-Go bag to prepare them for roadside barbecue .

The young man, who gave his name as Damian, was arrested at Ikot Odiong market on the fateful day at about 5 p.m with the Ghana-Must-Go bag in which he had stuffed the ten vultures.

Luck ran out on him when one of the vultures tore open a part of the bag and attempted to escape. Damian, in an attempt to prevent the vulture from escaping, put the bag down and its zip accidentally opened, exposing the contents of the bag which attracted some people.

The curious observers who gathered to observe the bizarre spectacle raised an alarm which attracted a mammoth crowd, most of them traders who were at the time busy packing their wares at the close of the day’s business.

When interrogated, Damian confessed that he sells vulture and that the vultures found on him were caught in the market. He said he had been in the business for the past five years.

Asked what he does with vultures, Damian revealed that he normally prepared some as roasted chicken which he sells to the general public.

His confession irked the crowd which attempted to lynch him but for the intervention of market officials who prevented this.

“He told us that some of the roasted chicken we eat on the road-sides, even along the Benin-Lagos road are vulture meat and that it is very delicious. Why should he do such a business in Akwa Ibom State when he knows that our people regard vulture as a taboo? ” an eye witness lamented.

The eye witness, who gave his name as Effiong, said “when the vulture man sensed that trouble was coming his way, he told the market officials that he wanted to ease himself and used that opportunity to escape into a nearby bush.”

All efforts to re-arrest him failed as it was getting dark, and the angry market union officials set the vultures ablaze.

Some months ago, a middle-aged man, whose name was withheld by a local tabloid based in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, had confessed that he earns a living selling vulture as chicken.