Some consumers of eggs and meat have decried the persistent rise in the price of eggs and various kinds of meat, especially livestock.

Some of them, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, said the price increase affected consumption, especially for children who needed the protein.

They appealed to the government to assist in curbing the high prices to meet the purchasing power of consumers.

A consumer, Christiana Agede, said a kilo of cow meat, formally sold between N4,500 and N5,000, now goes for N6,500 and N7,000.

Ms Agede said she rarely patronised the sellers because of her low purchasing power and that eggs were her family’s respite for meat, but she stopped buying when the price skyrocketed.

”We now buy brisket bones as alternative to meat in my house,” said Ms Agede. ”I prefer it because when you buy at least N1,500 worth of brisket bones, it looks bigger and it is more nutritious.”

”My children do not like it but I have convinced them to always consume it because of its nutritional value,” she said.

Henrietta Daniel, a single parent, said the high cost of eggs had made her remove it from her children’s food menu.

”Eggs are too expensive, and I can no longer afford them. The federal government should help us find lasting solutions to these price increases,” she said.

Adaeze Asiji, a consumer, said the price of chicken had also skyrocketed, as a kilo of chicken formerly sold between N3,500 and N4,000 was now between N5,000 and N6,500.

Elizabeth Adodi, another consumer and a civil servant, decried the continuous increase in meat prices.

She appealed to the government to extend the same efforts that also helped to crash some food prices to the livestock sector.

Everistus Nnamani, a butcher at Mararaba market, said the price increase was due to the hike in transportation.

Mr Nnamani said a big-sized cow sold initially for N800,000 but now costs between N1 million and N1.5 million.

He said a medium-sized cow sold between N400,000 and N500,000 now costs between N600,000 and N700,000, and a small-sized cow, sold between N150,000 and N200,000, now goes for N400,000.

The butcher attributed the constant hike in cattle prices to diesel and petrol costs and insecurity.

”Another issue causing an increase in the prices of cows is kidnapping. Bandits now prefer to kidnap trailer load of cows and sell them than humans,” he said.

Kelechi Odo, a butcher and trader of goat meat at Nyanya market, said the exchange rate was the major cause of the hike in goat prices.

He said that they usually buy their goats from neighbouring countries like Niger and Cameroon and that a small-sized, which initially cost between N15,000 and N18,000, is now being sold between N25,000 and N28,000.

The butcher said a medium-sized goat is now being sold between N27,000 and N28,000 when compared to between N20,000 and N22,000 that it was sold.

Mr Odo said a big-sized goat now went for between N32,000 to N35,000 as against N28,000 sold before.

Another butcher, Yusuf Ali, a ram dealer at the Kugbo ram market, said that ram was being sold between N50,000 and N150,000, depending on the size.

(NAN)