… travellers besiege motor parks
Ahead of Friday Eid el-Kabir Salah festival, Muslims resident in the FCT have lamented the high cost of rams.
A cross-section of those who spoke with our reporter at livestock markets in the FCT, said an average-size ram was sold for between N40,000 and N80, 000, while the bigger ones were sold for between M120,000 and 170,000.
A buyer, Usman Abdulkarim, who spoke with our reporter, said the prices of rams this year were quite high compared to last year.
He said he travelled from Kuje to buy his ram at Dei-Dei, but that the price was also high there.
“In fact, I reside in Kuje, but the price of ram there is too high so I decided to come to Dei-Dei but even here the prices are still almost as high. The moderate one was what I was able to buy at N48,000,” he said.
Another buyer, Yakubu Hussain, who also lamented the high prices of rams this year, said he bought a medium sized one at the cost of N46,000. He said he travelled from Nyanya to Dei-Dei to see if he could get a ram at a lesser price.
Our reporter, who also visited some selling points in Gwagwalada, Kuje and Abaji, observed many buyers complaining of the high cost of rams, though some Muslim residents were seen buying them in large numbers.
A buyer in Gwagwalada, Yahuza, Usman, said the “big men” and politicians were the ones who allegedly pushed the prices high, adding that they came with trucks and filled them with animals without bargaining.
However, a ram seller, Kabiru Danjuma, attributed the high cost of rams to the security challenges in some parts of the north.
“I brought 230 sheep all the way from Jibia in Jigawa and the driver charged a high rate per ram,” he said.
Meanwhile, travellers, especially Muslims, have besieged major parks to travel to their home towns for the Eid el-Kabir festival.
When City News visited Zuba and Gwagwalada motor parks, it observed a large turnout of passengers, especially those travelling to their homes to celebrate the Sallah festival.
Some of the travelers, who spoke with our reporter, said they were travelling home to join their family members to celebrate the Salah, despite the hardship in the country.
A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Aliyu Musa, said there was no increase in transport fares.
“We have been able to maintain our transport fares despite the increase in fuel price, “ he said.
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