Butchers and consumers of various kinds of livestock, especially cattle and goats, have decried the persistent rise in the prices of the animals.

Some butchers, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, said the price increase was a concern, affecting their businesses negatively.

They appealed to the government to devise a way to assist in crashing the prices to increase the purchasing power of consumers.

Everistus Nnamani, a butcher at Mararaba market, said a big-sized cow sold initially for N800,000 now costs between one million and N1.5 million.

Mr Nnamani said a medium-sized cow, which was sold between N400,000 and N500,000, now costs between N600,000 and N700,000; a small-sized cow, sold between N150,000 and N200,000, now sells for N400,000.

He attributed the constant hike in the price of cattle to scarcity and the high cost of diesel, fuel, and insecurity.

”Now, for me to purchase one cow is even difficult because of the price. I spend more money buying one than before, and most of my profit goes into buying.

”Another issue that is causing an increase in the price of cows is kidnapping. Bandits now prefer to kidnap trailer loads of cows and sell them,” 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 prices of goat.

He said they usually buy their goats from neighbouring countries like Niger and Cameroon, and a small size, which initially costs 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 for between N27,000 and N28,000, compared to between N20,000 and N22,000 that it was sold initially.

Mr 1Odo said a big-sized goat was now between NN32,000 to N35,000 as against the N28,000 it was sold before.

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

A customer, Christiana Agede, said a kilogramme of cow meat, which was initially between N4,500 and N5,000, now goes for between N5,500 and N6,000.

Ms Agede said her family had resorted to consumption of brisket bones as an alternative to meat. She said eggs were initially her family’s respite for meat but withdrew when the price of eggs skyrocketed.

”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.

Elizabeth Adodi, another consumer and a civil servant, expressed worry over the continuous increase in the prices of meat.

Ms Adodi said that although some food items were already coming down, the price of meat was still increasing.

She appealed to the government to extend the same efforts that helped in crashing some food prices to the livestock sector to reduce the cost of meat in the market. 

(NAN)