Following the
outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in some West African nations,
residents of the Federal Housing Estate, Oke-Ila, Ado-Ekiti, have been
gripped with fear over the sudden appearance of a mysterious monkey in
the area.
According to the residents who described the monkey as having a light
brown skin, it escaped about two weeks ago from it master’s home, also a
resident in the area, and began terrorising everyone in the area,
jumping fences, attacking women and children and seizing fruits from
hawkers in the area.
Abiodun Ajayi, a resident of the area who spoke to Daily Sun said it was
a woman who raised the alarm about two weeks that she saw a monkey,
coming out of a nearby bush around her house in the estate and ever
since, they have been looking for the monkey.
He said: “Last Sunday, I invited officials of the Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) when I saw the monkey on a tree. But before
it could be shot, it dived into a compound and vanished. It comes and
goes anytime and anyhow.”
Other residents in the area said all efforts to capture the animal have
proved futile. They therefore called on the state government to support
the NSCDC’s effort and fish out the monkey on rampage.
“The monkey is real. There is no one in this area who can say he has not
seen it. Children cannot play freely again and women are being harassed
by the monkey. This is the period of Ebola. Government should please
help us,” a resident said.
Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer of the NCSDC in
the state, Mr. Tolulope Afolabi said the specie of the monkey is
different from the common small ones and is big enough to cause anyone
fears.
He explained that personnel of the Corps had made several attempts at killing the monkey but to no avail.
He however assured residents that they are on top of the issue and the
corps officials are on ground trailing the animal all the time either to
kill or catch it.
Monkeys are one of the animals known listed as a major source of the deadly Ebola virus.
Recently, the Nigeria Custom Service impounded a trailer full of smoked
meat allegedly said to be monkey meat being imported into the country
through the Jibia border in Katsina state.
