Some cattle traders in Bauchi have expressed concern over low sales of the animals following the scarcity of old and new naira notes.

A check by correspondents at Kasuwar Shanu Market in the Bauchi metropolis on Sunday showed that the development negatively affected cattle trade in the area.

The market, which served as a transit point for transporting cattle to other parts of the country, witnessed a sharp decrease in transactions.

Checks showed that a few cows were brought to the market weekly, as against about 1,000 before the currency swap policy.

The leader of Bauchi Cattle Market, Musa Piro, said naira scarcity crippled transactions in the market as the cattle trade operates on a cash-and-carry basis.

He said the trend made transactions practically impossible and exposed traders to hardship, as many only accept cash.

Mr Piro said some do not have bank accounts, and those who do are not comfortable with repayment due to bad networks and fake credit alerts.

“Cattle trade requires huge sums of money, and epileptic network is making internet banking and e-payment difficult, this makes the trade less attractive,” he said.

Mr Piro said some traders had lost their monies to fraudsters who swindled them through dubious money transfers and e-payment platforms.

“We had a bad experience of money transfer at Mararaba Liman Katagum market, two cows were sold at N400,000, and the buyer paid only N4,000 as against N400,000 to the middleman through e–payment platform. He left without a trace,” he said.

This, he said, made the traders jittery and rejected money transfers and other alternative payment systems to guard against losses.

Mr Piro recalled that about 25 trucks of cattle were being transported daily from the market to other parts of the country before the implementation of the cashless policy.

Another trader, Abubakar Gidado, said cattle owners rejected money transfers and preferred cash transactions.

He said the trend resulted in a crash in cattle prices in markets across the state.

“Both buyers and sellers are demanding cash, and not everybody knows how to transfer money.

“We are facing a difficult situation, and the market condition is bad owing to naira scarcity,” he said.

He urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to adopt practical measures to end Naira scarcity, to encourage trade and protect them from losses. 

(NAN)