Residents of Enugu have decried the high cost of live chickens as they prepare to celebrate this year’s Christmas.

Prices of chickens ranged between N5,000 and N15,000 depending on the sizes and weight. Also, a live Turkey sells for between N25,000 and N30,000.

Anastasia Nwobodo, a resident, said she came to Garki Market to buy chicken for N4,000 but was surprised that she could not find any.

“My husband and I agreed to buy a small chicken to celebrate Christmas, but to my greatest surprise, there was no chicken for N4000, no matter how small,” she said.

Another resident, Erasmus Nwadike, also lamented the high cost of the birds in the market, saying although he expected the increase, not as much.

“Things are just too expensive; imagine that I bought a chicken for N10,000, something that ordinarily would have just cost N4000 highest.

“It appears things are just being made worse in Nigeria every day. I don’t know where we are headed,” he said.

Mr Nwadike, a senior civil servant, said he was worried about what would become of Nigeria if things continued this way.

For another resident, Esther Nnolim, chicken has become a no-go area this season. She said she had decided to celebrate in a low-key manner this year.

“I cannot afford to buy chicken N10,000 because, as a family of seven, it cannot take us far. And by January, you start talking of school fees,” she said.

A poultry farmer, Innocent Nnam, however, blamed the high cost of chicken this year on the cost of feeds, transportation and the high price of things generally.

“Last year, by this time, the costliest of my birds was between N7000 and N8000, but the general cost of bringing birds into the market is much higher now, such that we are just trying to make ends meet,” he said.

It was observed that a size of turkey sold for N10,000 last year is sold for around N30,000 this year.

(NAN)