Residents of Kajola Community in Ogun on Friday counted their blessings as they freely fetched beef from 10 cows killed by a train.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that men and women including commercial motorcyclists and passersby used knives, cutlasses to cut from the lifeless cows.
The train, which took off from Lagos, headed for its final destination, Kajola Terminus, when it ran over the cows which were crossing rail track at 11.50a.m.
The cows were finding food when they crossed the rail track.
The herders seemed to be caught unawares.
No human life was lost to the accident.
Some of the residents who spoke with NAN said that 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 NAN that he fetched beef that would be enough for his family for at least a 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.”
Mr Fatai Akeem, told NAN that 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.
NAN reports that pieces of beef littered the track as the residents continued to fetch the beef.
The owners of the cows were not seen as at the time of the report. (NAN)