Abuja livestock traders decry low patronage

Goat and chicken traders in the Abuja livestock market at Dei-Dei have decried low patronage in this year’s Christmas amid low supply of the animals.

A trader, Abubakar Safiyanu, said they expected a large turnout of buyers this year going by the low availability of animals in the market.

“However, we are disappointed, as you can see the level of the turnout of buyers, even today, being the eve of the Christmas.

“We used to receive higher turnout of customers on Saturdays in the past, compared to this year’s Christmas eve,” he lamented.

• ‘As a young professional, you must invest in continuous learning’
• 7 major incidents that shaped Kano in 2024

A goat buyer, Emmanuel Steven, said the size of the goat sold at N35,000 last year, cost about N70,000 this year.

“I don’t have a choice but to buy it at that rate, and see how I would be able to meet other demands,” he added.

The experience appeared to be the same in the chicken section of the market.

A trader, Murtala Sani, said the price of chicken that skyrocketed at the beginning of the Christmas, has since crashed as the result of low patronage, causing many of them to sell at a loss.

Given the price range of the chickens, Sani said the old layers’ that they bought at the rate of N7,300 from the farmhouse, are sold in the market at N8,000-N8,500 adding that “for turkeys, the ones we bought at the rate of N40,000 from the farmhouse, we sell at N45,000-N50,000.

He further disclosed that the foreign breed of turkey, which costs between N80,000 and N90,000 at their supply source, is sold at the market at the rate of N110,000 to N120,000.

A chicken buyer, Obiyora Ezane, said the price of chicken has multiplied three times compared to last year. He said as a result, he bought four chickens at the rate of N25,000 each, compared to seven last year, costing about N15,000 each, at the time.