Beef scarcity hits Kwara over high cost of cattle

Meat sellers in Kwara State have stopped slaughtering cattle over the rising cost.

The development has led to the scarcity of meats across markets in Ilorin, the state capital.

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A meat seller at Mandate Market popularly known as Alfa said they could not get meat to buy from all the abattoirs in Ilorin.

Another seller, Abu Olowo, who operates a meat shop at Irewolede said, “The meat is too expensive. We are selling N2,500 per kilo against N1,500 it was before. The bigger the cow, the greater the loss and unlike we that sell in kilos, the situation is worse with those in the markets.”

The Secretary of Saraki Abattoir, Akerebiata, Alhaji Oba Elegede, attributed the development to the high prices of cattle.

“The market is not even there again because of the high cost of cow. How do you explain a situation where a cow of N100,000 is now N250,000?

“We cannot patronise the far north markets like Yobe and Maiduguri where we used to get cheap cows because of insecurity. We are only going round the nearby cow markets in Kwara, Ilesha Baruba, Kaiama, Ajase, Share, Bode Saadu, Jebba and Igbeti.

“The last time some of our boys travelled to Niger State, two of them were kidnapped and we paid ransom to secure their lives.”