In the guise of implementing a ministerial ban on the sale of chicken products in Mfoundi Division, covering the entire city of Yaounde, some unscrupulous individuals passing for veterinary officers have been dubbing poultry farmers and vendors. The fake vet officers go around seizing fowls on grounds that they have the mandate to confiscate such table birds for decimation.

On Monday June 13, three young lads putting on flashy white laboratory jackets were spotted in the Biyem Assi neighbourhood, about identifying houses where fowls are reared on small scale. Their mission, we gathered, was to identify such houses and confiscate the fowls.

Suspicious as they seem, locals raised an alarm and the vet officers immediately drove off in a Toyota pickup car loaded with about 30 fowls supposedly successfully seized elsewhere.

“I am fully aware there is no decision that authorizes individuals to go killing fowls in the streets. There are some people moving around in my neigbourhood to that effect. They should be thieves,” Yang Eric, a journalist, told The Cameroon Journal, attesting to the presence of the fake guys in his Melen neighbourhood.

The fake vet officers are also reported to be operating in the Mvogt- Betsi, Mvogt- Ada, Ekounou, Mokolo and Carrefour MEEC neighbourhoods.

It should be noted that officials of the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries had indicated that the ban was limited to the sale of chickens in order to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus. City dwellers were told they could continue eating their home-grown birds, though they were advised to properly cook them.

Residences were also implored to report suspected cases of bird flu through a hotline, 1520, though the number has remained largely defective.