Herdsmen stood and watched helplessly as residents of Kajola Community in Ogun State freely feasted on beef from 10 cows killed by a train.
Men and women including commercial motorcyclists and passersby used knives, cutlasses to cut from the lifeless cows.
NAN reports that the train, which took off from Lagos, headed for its final destination, Kajola Terminus, when it ran over the cows that were crossing rail track at 11:50 a.m. in search of food.
The herders seemed to be caught unawares but no human life was lost to the accident.
Some of the residents said the herders had been warned to desist from bringing the animals near the track.
They also said that the meat would waste if people would not fetch them.
One of the residents, Mr. Adeola Paseda, told newsmen that he fetched beef that would be enough for his family for at least one week.
“I am one of the residents that got here first; I have meat that can last for a week,” he said.
Mrs. Bola Akanni, who was carrying a basin of beef, said: “Times are hard now; if we do not take the meat, it will amount to waste of an opportunity.”
For his part, Mr. Fatai Akeem, said he was alerted by his friends immediately the accident happened.
He said that he was sad to see pieces of beef littering the track.
“I watched as people cut meat in basins and took them to their houses. The herders lost a lot because they could not listen to advice not to bring cows near the rail track,” he said.
