An Associate Professor at the Department of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Edem Eniang has revealed how politicians use vulture egg to acquire mystical powers to win elections.

He sounded the alarm that the vulture, a scavenging bird is gradually going into extinction in Nigeria.

Eniang disclosed that the search by desperate politicians for the eggs has intensified as 2019 approaches.

He told Vanguard that some Nigerian politicians use the eggs highly demanded by native doctors for supernatural power and preparation of voodoo to win elections.

An egg of a vulture is said to costs over N1million because of its soaring demand.

Dr. Eniang maintained that unscrupulous politicians were capitalizing on the spiritual potency of the bird to hunt for the eggs for spiritual fortification.

He said, “The vulture is a very special bird created by God to serve as a natural vacuum cleaner, they clean-up all available rubbish, but the politicians and favour seekers hunt and pick the eggs of these special creatures for their fetish needs, diminishing their population and not allowing the eggs to be incubated and hatched.

“As it is, the existence of the vulture is greatly threatened, as Nigerian politicians hunt desperately for its eggs.

The bird is so important that the United Nations set aside the first Saturday of September, every year, as World Vulture Day.

“Today, vultures are disappearing; most people do not even realize the importance of the existence of the vultures.

“They help us to clean our environment by feeding on death decaying materials and save us from diseases that would have spread around from the decaying materials.

“Mad persons, who die in our cities or along the highways are allowed to rot away on the surface of the earth, spreading diseases, but God created vultures to protect the environment.

“God in his wisdom created all things for the purpose of partaking in the ecosystem so that the balance of life will continue.”

According to Eniang: “They sometimes engage community youth to climb very high trees to get the eggs for them. These youth climb Iroko trees in the midnight to pick vulture eggs.

“They climb at darkest night knowing that the vulture does not see in the night to steal their eggs.

“Unfortunately, the vultures do not lay many eggs and they lay once in a year and the eggs are most hunted.

“Nigerian politicians are too desperate to get power. You do not need juju animism to win an election.

“Your antecedent and pedigree should pave the way for you, not the eggs of the vulture. Do not depend on the mystical potency of the vulture’s egg.”