Prices of sacrificial animals have significantly increased amidst low patronage of buyers, barely forty eight hours to eid celebration.
A visit to some livestock markets in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital shows few customers despite the payment of June salary by the state government.
A cattle dealer at Molai livestock market in Jere local government Audu Kurama attributed the hike in price of ram to high cost of transport, cashless policy and food insecurity especially in Borno state that witnessed more than decade-long insurgency.
According to him, the market has less than one hundred cattle compared to last year with over 400 livestock.
Malam Kurama said the prices ranges from sixty thousand to two hundred thousand naira.
At the Maiduguri main cattle market ‘Kasuwan Shanu’ a deal Mohammed Shagari lamented that the market is recording low patronage in recent years.
He explained that people prefer to contribute as a group and buy a bull instead of purchasing a ram of one hundred thousand naira.
In an interview with Radio Nigeria a prospective buyer Modu Gana Sheriff expressed fears that he may not be able to sacrifice any animal this year due to the cash crunch and increase in price.
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