Some buyers of ram in the Federal Capital Territory are groaning over “high prices’’ of the sacrificial animal in major markets as the Eid-el-Kabir celebration draws nearer, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Eid-el-Kabir is an annual Islamic festival of ram sacrifice decreed to the faithful as an act of Ibadah (worship) to Almighty Allah as practiced by Muslims globally.
A NAN correspondent who visited the Dei-dei livestock market and Dutse market, respectively, reports that small, average and big rams at both markets are sold for N35,000, N60,000 and N100,000.
Some of the buyers expressed dissatisfaction with the high cost of the rams.
At Dei-dei market, a buyer, Malam Isah Nanono, attributed the situation to the prevailing economic challenges in the country.
Nanono told NAN that he was there to purchase a big ram but ended up with a small one because he couldn’t afford his choice due to high price.
He said, “The one I ended up buying cost N35,000, while the medium-sized one that I wanted to buy went for a negotiable price of N60,000.
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“I have visited many ram markets in town but couldn’t buy any because of the high cost, that is why I came here hoping it would be better.”
Another prospective buyer, Mr. Rilwanu Isa, said that he could not believe what he was asked to pay for an average ram.
However, Malam Ibrahim Liman, who sells ram at Dei-dei market, identified insurgency and high cost of living in the country as some of the major causes of the rise in cost.
He explained that some of them in the business from the North East have lost their animals to the insurgency and have been forced to import from Niger Republic and Chad, just to be in business.