On Friday of last week, tension erupted among traders at the well-known Alaba International Market in Ojo, Lagos, after one of them discovered what appeared to be a human penis inside some food she had purchased there.
The middle-aged woman, identified as Ebere, at GBO Plaza, in the market, raised an alarm after making the strange discovery in her bowl of soup. This caused pandemonium as worried vendors and customers flocked to the plaza to see.
According to reports, Ebere discovered that the meat on her plate of food resembled a male child’s penis while she was selling household items and eating the food she had purchased from a vendor.
An eyewitness said;
“I was here when Ebere was eating, yesterday, and found the meat that looks like a little child’s private part. We all took turns to examine it. It didn’t look like that of a goat or a dog.
“It was when she raised an alarm that other traders came closer and on proper scrutiny, it was concluded that the seemingly turgid but, small human flesh must be that of a child.”
Other witnesses said the argument raged for long until a verdict was unanimously passed that it was the private part of a human being and hell was let loose as they all started asking for the head of the food vendor.
It was gathered that the alarmed food vendor was loudly proclaiming her innocence saying that she bought the meat from her regular supplier in the market.
The sordid drama was so intense to the extent that some of the traders that claimed to be regular customers of the food vendor were throwing up publicly lamenting that they have been eating human flesh for long thinking that it was delicious meat.
Vanguard Metro gathered that the frenzy was such that traders thronged the plaza in their numbers to, not just identify the food vendor but, trace the meat seller and deliver instant justice to them.
The situation, which was about degenerating into a serious crisis was, however, doused by leaders of the market who called for caution and assured that they will investigate the issue and take decisive action.
Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer, Alaba International Market, Ezeani Theophilus told Vanguard Metro that the incident was still under investigation.
According to him, “The food vendor doesn’t have a restaurant, she is a local food vendor.
“We have called on the police and investigation is ongoing.
“The food vendor claimed she bought the meat from a meat seller who hawks around the market. We don’t want to escalate the issue so that the meat seller won’t find out and flee from the market.”
However, at the time of going to press, not much has been heard about the result of their investigation but it was reliably gathered that the food vendor had disappeared from the market and nobody could say whether she was invited by the police or not.
On their part, the police said they are yet to receive such a report and assured that once they get it, they will investigate the case thoroughly.