The Plateau State Government has launched the construction of an ultra-modern, large-scale abattoir capable of processing 500 cattle per day. 

Situated in Pwomol Village, Heipang, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, the project was officially flagged off by Governor Caleb Mutfwang alongside a state-of-the-art Veterinary Teaching Hospital, marking a multi-million naira investment designed to stimulate rural employment and modernise the regional red-meat supply network. 

The twin infrastructure projects are heavily backed by the World Bank-supported Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Programme and form the industrial anchor for the state’s 500-hectare Heipang Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ). 

Governor Mutfwang declared that the facility represents a calculated economic departure from exporting raw live animals toward localised processing and high-margin value addition. 

He emphasised that the modern automated system will entirely phase out unhygienic, crude slaughtering practices in the region, ensuring that local beef meets international sanitary benchmarks to expand premium market access across West Africa.

The economic model of the agro-industrial zone is structurally designed to distribute wealth across the entire sub-Saharan agricultural value chain. 

According to the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Samson Bugama, and the Commissioner for Livestock Development, Dr Sunday Akpa, the facility will trigger massive ancillary private investments. 

These include commercial feedlot operations, specialised forage and fodder production, cold-storage logistics networks, leather tanneries to process hides, and organic fertiliser processing plants that utilise bone and blood by-products.

The launch drew high-level validation from the federal executive council. The Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, commended the state’s initiative, identifying Plateau as uniquely suited to spearhead Nigeria’s red-meat transformation due to its hospitable climate, strong farming legacy, and the presence of the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) in Vom. 

Project managers confirmed that civil engineering works are fully mobilised, with a strict timeline set for complete project delivery and private-sector management transition within one year.

Source: National Accord News