How ram dealers suffered losses in Abuja

Traders who brought rams to sell in Abuja for Eid al-Kabir faced substantial losses and low patronage due to traffic jams on the Abuja-Kaduna highway, which caused many animals to die before they could reach the market. Idrisu Yan Tumaki, a ram dealer from Dan Musa LGA in Katsina State, said that the 200 rams […]

Traders who brought rams to sell in Abuja for Eid al-Kabir faced substantial losses and low patronage due to traffic jams on the Abuja-Kaduna highway, which caused many animals to die before they could reach the market.

Idrisu Yan Tumaki, a ram dealer from Dan Musa LGA in Katsina State, said that the 200 rams he supplied couldn’t be sold after the Sallah celebration, so he returned them home.

He was seen at the Dei-Dei livestock market in Abuja three days after the annual festivity with some animals, intending to sell them or negotiate a transport fare before returning home.

Another trader, Muhammad Ruwaji, from Jigawa State, reported that his team had to transport 30 rams back home after failing to sell them in Abuja.

“Unlike previous years, this year we could no longer request people at home to supply us with additional rams after selling the ones we took to market,” he stated.

Muhammad Abubakar from Bauchi State must transport over 20 rams back home due to poor market this year in the FCT.

A trader named Ahmadu Sandamu, who runs a temporary market for rams along the Kubwa Expressway in Abuja, reported that out of 45 rams he brought to the market, only 20 had been sold three days after the Sallah holiday.

He added that the cost of transporting the rams back to his home state, Katsina, would be higher than the expense of bringing them to Abuja.

“During our coming from Katsina State to Abuja, you have drivers that were ready to drive back here even empty, so they are charging us a lower transport fare than what they would demand now in taking the animals back home,” he lamented.

Abuja Metro reports that while some traders were able to sell their rams, others couldn’t even reach the FCT on time due to traffic congestion on the Abuja-Kaduna highway, which persisted for several days before the Sallah holiday.

Ya’u Mai Rago, who sells rams at the Dei-Dei livestock market in Abuja, said that the traffic jam persisted for approximately three days before it was finally resolved on the fourth day. According to him, ram dealers, particularly those traveling to the southern regions of the country, suffered the most from this situation, resulting in significant losses of rams, goats, and cattle.

“The gridlock had started from a point known as Audu Jangwam and extended to the Jere junction in Kaduna State. Most of these well-fed animals that were being assembled in the vehicle couldn’t endure the additional stress of the heat, causing many of them to collapse and die in the process.

“To accommodate the remaining animals, the dead ones had to be removed from the stranded vehicle. It was already late by the time some of the animal dealers arrived at the market,” he stated