Lassa fever: Benue stops consumption of rats

Alarmed by the spread of Lassa fever to some parts of the country, the Benue State Government has suspended the consumption of rats in the state.
Rat is a special delicacy among the people of the state.
The state Governor, Samuel Ortom, told State House correspondents on Monday that though painful, the decision was taken in the interest of the people.
Emerging from a meeting with the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Ortom disclosed that the state had recorded a case of the deadly fever.
He said: “Benue is affected.
“We have one case (of Lassa Fever) right now that is under control.
“We have advised our people: rat which is a major carrier, is a delicacy.
“I am finding it difficult but I have told them to suspend eating rats now until further notice.”
Ortom said he decided to make agriculture a priority programme of his administration because he suspected early enough that a time would come when the nation would face revenue generation challenges.
He said: “We are going to take on the entire value chain.
“We will look at the seedling, we will look at the way we do our cropping, planting, harvesting, storage, processing and marketing.
“An average farmer is not making anything out of his produce for now.
“If we go into getting the right seedling and doing the proper cropping, harvesting, storage, processing and storage to add value, it will also boost the chances of farmers making more money and it will encourage them to do more.
“And we have the capacity and so what we are doing is to ensure that we encourage the people.”
Ortom also said the administration would provide the basic infrastructure needed such as roads, storage facilities and intended to embark upon massive land clearing.
He said: “If we must mechanise agriculture, there must be land clearing and then provision of equipment for mechanised farming so that we can go commercial.
“This is what we are doing and I believe that this will yield results.”