FG to pay Kano poultry farmers N438m compensation

The Federal Ministry of Finance will soon commence the payment of N438 million compensation to poultry farmers who lost their birds to avian flu influenza in Kano.

The compensation, which covers the backlog of 2015 and 2016 casualty figures, will be paid to 136 farmers in 22 local council areas where the affected farms are located.

Leading a delegation of the ministry, office of the Presidential Initiative for Continuous Audit (PICA), Yahaya Jairo Ahmad, who confirmed the payment, told journalists at the weekend that the team visited Kano to verify the farmers’ claims and request from the Ministry of Agriculture after which payments would be made.

The Kano State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources had confirmed the outbreak of avian flu influenza in the state two weeks ago with the killing of over 13,000 birds in less than one month.

Although the director, Veterinary Services at the Ministry, Dr. Shehu Bawa who disclosed the incident, maintained that farms affected by the disease were being depopulated to check further spread, poultry farmers had cried out to the Federal Government for intervention following the loss of their birds in the last two years, a development that had forced many out of business.