Nigerian restaurant 'served human flesh to customers'

A viral news story about a Nigerian restaurant shut down after it was allegedly discovered selling human flesh may be a hoax.

Reports emerged yesterday that visitors to the hotel restaurant in Anambra, Nigeria, alerted police to rumours that the restaurant had been plating up human meat, according to BBC Swahili.

When police raided the restaurant they discovered human heads that were still bleeding, according to reports.

But it is not the first time the story has surfaced. In February, 2014, news outlets around the world reported on a strikingly similar case

"Every time I went to the hotel I observed strange activities going on in the hotel," One resident reportedly told the BBC.

"People who were never cleanly dressed and who looked a bit strange made their way in and out of the hotel, making me very suspicious of their activities. I am not surprised at the shocking revelation."


According to the story, a priest who ate at the restaurant was presented with a bill of 700 Naira, or around $4.40, which is a considerable amount of money with millions survive on less than a $1 a day.

"The attendant noticed my reaction and told me it was the small piece of meat I had eaten that made the bill scale that high," he told the BBC.

He was shocked to learn the meat he was served was human flesh.

"I did not know I had been served with human meat, and that it was that expensive," he said.

It was also reported that police seized a number of automatic weapons, grenades and cell phones, while 10 people were arrested.

The story appears to have originated in a Nigerian tabloid,Osun Defender, in September 2013. The original article features the same quotes and similar details to those circulated in the most recent version.

It is not the first time the world has been shocked by stories of commercial cannibalism that proved to be false.

In 2010 it was widely reported that a restaurant in Berlin, Germany, was seeking people willing to donate their bodies to a eatery, drawing shock and revulsion before it was revealed to be untrue.

But not all seemingly unbelievable cannabilism reports have proven unfounded though.

German man Armin Meiwes was sentenced to life in prison after he admitting to killing and eating a "volunteer" he met on the internet.