Beef scarcity, rising cost of food items hit southern states
The strike action embarked upon by the cattle and foodstuff dealers under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) has driven up prices of beef, food and vegetables in the South.
AUFCDN, an affiliate of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) commenced a nationwide strike Thursday following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum given to the federal government to attend to their demands.
The Union is demanding protection of its members, payment of N475 billion compensation for lives of members and properties lost during the #EndSARS protest and the Shasa market crisis in Ibadan. It also demands the dismantling of all roadblocks on federal highways where their members are harassed and money extorted from them by the authorities.
The strike entails closing all routes between the North and South for vehicles conveying cattle and food items. Such vehicles are stopped from reaching the Southern region.
Butchers in the South who still have stock have capitalised on the strike to hike prices. So have sellers in perishable food items shipped from the North.
Lagos is one of the states worst hit. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had at the commissioning of a new semimechanized abattoir for cows and goats in Bariga recently said that the state consumes over 50 per cent of animal production in Nigeria.
A kilo of beef that sold for N1, 200 to N1, 500 before the strike now sells for N2, 000. A basket of tomato, which sold between N4, 000 to N6, 000 before now, ranges between N13, 000 to N15,000.
The chairman of United Butchers of Lagos State Abattoir Complex, Oko-Oba in Agege, Abdullahi Ahmed, said that before the strike, about 1,000 cows were slaughtered daily at the abattoir while close to 1,500 cows were slaughtered on Saturdays.
“Now, we cannot slaughter up to 200 because there are no cows. What we are slaughtering are the ones being reared here and they are small,” he said.
Ahmed told Daily Trust that the three cows he slaughtered on Saturday were bought at N630, 000. “I saw someone buy one cow at N900, 000 on Saturday. The situation is very terrible,” he said.
It was also learnt that less than five cows were slaughtered at Odo-Eran, in Ojo Cantonment on Saturday.
Daily Trust observed that many have turned to fish while those who had planned to buy fresh pepper and tomatoes for storage purposes could no longer do so.
Chineye Okoroafor, a trader at the Agbara market, a border community in Ogun State, said that dealers have resorted to hoarding goods.
Prices soar at Shasa
At Shasa Market in Ibadan, where a civil unrest resulted in the death of many people from the North and helped trigger the strike, prices have also gone up.
The market is a major destination for trucks conveying food items such as tomatoes, onions and peppers from the northern part of the country to the state.
A resident of Agodi, Mrs Yinka Ojebode said, “We know onion is just returning to its normal price but the crisis in Shasa has also affected other soup ingredients.”
The Babaloja of Shasa market, Chief Popoola Rasheed has denied reports that some Hausa traders have refused to return to the market.
“This is strange to me. We all attended our prayers on Friday. A session was led by Imam Hausa while another session was led by Yoruba imam,” he said.
Prices skyrocket in Rivers, Imo, Ekiti, Ogun, others
A survey by our reporter in markets located in Port Harcourt, Oyigbo and Eleme show that prices of tomatoes, onions, yam and meat have gone up by at least 50 per cent.
At Eke Oyigbo Market in Oyigbo, a set of custard bucket of tomatoes which was sold at N400 now cost N700 while the prices of onions and yam have also gone up.
A small yam tuber that cost N400 now goes for N800 while a large size of yam which cost between N600 to N800 now cost between N1500 to N1800 at Eleme Market.
A trader at Mile One Market in Port Harcourt, Musa Shehu, said many traders were hoarding their food items.
In Imo State, prices have hit the roof. Our correspondent, who surveyed Eke Onunwa, Relief Market, Cluster Market, Amakohia Market all in Owerri, discovered that most residents have turned to chicken as a source of protein.
This has also driven up the price of chicken. Old layers, which go for 1, 400 previously is now sold for N2,000.
At Relief Market, where foodstuffs from the North were offloaded, the prices of some items especially fruits, have increased.
A foodstuff dealer who gave her name as Mama Nkechi, said that the worst is yet to come if the current trend is not halted.
A kilo of beef in Akure, the Ondo State capital has risen from N1, 500 to N2,000. Other items also affected are onions, tomatoes, beans, potatoes and others.
According to Mrs Bukola Oyinlade, a basket of tomatoes, which was sold for N2,500 as of last week has jumped to N10,000. A sack of onion that was N9, 000 is now N15, 000 while a bag of beans now costs N40, 000 as against N36, 000.
The situation is the same in Ogun State, though the State Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Abdulmumin Ibrahim said that its members are not part of the strike.
In Benin, Daily Trust observed that meat for under N500 is no longer available as a kilo of beef that sold for N1,300 now costs N1,500.
A cattle dealer, John Okumaiye, said they have not received orders that there would be no supply of cows but the price is affected by the rise in the dollar exchange rate.
“But as from Monday, we will know whether there is a strike or not because we usually get more supplies of cattle on Sunday,” he said.
The price of beans and sweet potatoes have also gone up as a bag of onion now costs N20,000 as against N13,000.
In Ekiti, a meat seller, Ganiyu Salau, said the cost of sourcing for the cows in nearby states like Kogi and Kwara has driven up the price of beef.
Our correspondent in Uyo,
Akwa Ibom, reports that food vendors and restaurant owners are lamenting the high price of beef and other food items.
A restaurant owner in the University of Uyo, Ms Affiong Ekpo told our correspondent that she had been forced to buy goat meat at a much higher rate than usual, adding that beef is not even available.
“Goat meat is now expensive. I bought goat meat on Friday and it was on the high side. Ever since the strike was announced last week, the price of beef has skyrocketed,” she noted.
Our reporter also observed that some food items such as potatoes are scarce in the market.
Prices stable in Cross River, Anambra
Prices of yam, plantain, beans, rice remain stable in Cross River and Anambra but onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber are in short supply, forcing their prices to shoot up in Calabar. The items are mostly brought in from Cameroon and the northern states of Nigeria.
The people of Bayelsa State have described the situation as a challenge for farmers and people of the South to return to farming and make agriculture a top priority.
Afenifere, PANDEF berate action, warn of retaliation
Reacting the development, Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, described the action as a “thoughtless protest.”
The spokesman of the group, Yinka Odumakin, in a chat with Daily Trust threatened that the South could also block fuel supply to the North.
“This is a thoughtless protest by those who don’t think. If they think they can block tomatoes from coming to the to the South, what if the South decides to block fuel products from coming to the North, what will you do? Will you power your power needs with cow urine?
An Ijaw Elder statesman and spokesman of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Chief Anabs Sara Igbe said the strike action should not be a source of worry to the people of the region.
Chief Igbe who spoke with our reporter in Port Harcourt at the weekend said the threat should encourage the people of the region to go into farming saying that the region’s two seasonal farming period is an added advantage for the region to produce sufficient food for the people.
He warned that the North should not expect the supply of oil if they insist on cutting food supply to the region.
No going back — Dealers
Meanwhile, cattle and foodstuff dealers under the aegis of AUFCDN have vowed to continue their nationwide strike and sustain the enforcement of the blockade of the South.
The General Secretary of the union, Ahmed Alaramma, in a telephone interview with Daily Trust said the task force and members of the union are currently carrying out the enforcement on the blockade in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
Other places he listed were Jebba in Kwara State; Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital; Makurdi and Katsina-ala in Benue State; Tahla in Taraba State and other places that lead to the South.
When contacted, the Grand Matron of AUFCDN, Hajia Hauwa Kabir Usman, told our correspondent that she was on her way to Lokoja to supervise the enforcement of the blockade, saying they would never compromise.
Muhktar was shot several times. He was in his family residence in Hakimi Road when the police officers went on a rampage. Right by the door of the house, he was shot first on his chest and then his hand. The bullets that hit Muhktar ripped off his hands.
His brother, Aliyu Muhammad, heard the gunshots but had to take refuge inside the house. When the assault finally subsided and Muhktar was brought into the house, he had already lost several pints of blood. His hands ripped off, chest ridden of cavities, he was in excruciating pain and it was only a matter of time before he was expected to die. Nevertheless, he was rushed to the hospital.
There was little the medics at the AlRamadan Nursing and Maternity Home could do. Muhktar was dead before arrival. The medical report stated that he suffered a ‘significant gunshot to the chest.’
Umar never made it to the hospital
Unlike others, Sani Umar did not have the privilege of being taken for treatment nor a befitting burial. He was a regular at his father’s residence being the sole breadwinner. He had left his home on April 4, 2020, to visit his father but met his untimely death. Pictures taken afresh after his death shows a smashed skull crammed in a black plastic bag and a lifeless body.
While the other three dead were taken for burial the following day, on the 5th, Umar’s burial could not be delayed due to its untidiness and the potential stink it could oozeovernight. He was immediately taken for burial. Umar suffered more. His disintegrated skull still had to be taken for a shave to enable proper documentation.
Given his tenacious lifestyle, one would have wished he was still alive to fulfil his dreams. Although a welder, Sani still sought formal education even in his 30s. Braving the shame of sitting in the same classroom alongside teenagers, some of who are young enough for him to sire, he finished his secondary school education in 2019 at the age of 32.
What now remains of Musa, Sani, Muhktar and Aliyu, once beacons of hope for their family, is 6-feet of earth where each of them wasinterred. The four suffered gruesome deaths by any sense of imagination. PREMIUM TIMES could not publish gory pictures of these victims alongside this copy as they require a prior warning before viewing.
Hail of bullets, deaths
Shooting on April 4 started at BakinDogo, around the crossroad that joins GwagwadaRoad and Hakimi Road, the location of the makeshift market but soon spread to other streets as gun-wielding police officers chased people.
On Hakimi Road, about 150 metres to the west by-pass, then 9-year-old Ibrahim Al-Amin was running an errand when two bullets hit him at opposite sides of his chest.
The bullets penetrated through his pectoralis, rupturing his ribs in the process. His two hands became temporarily paralysed. His dying body was found inside the culvert close to his house.
The first landing place for the boy, who had become unconscious, was Agwa Hospital. Here, the doctors revived him, stabilised his breathing and placed him on a drip. He was referred to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital for further treatment as the private hospital lacked the facility to remove the bullets.
From there, he was referred to two other government hospitals, which both rejected him before the family settled for a private hospital. At Smart Hospital, Al-Amin was given emergency treatment but something else would later deter his further treatment.
Binta said the family paid N105, 000 plus other unrecorded expenses to see Al-Amin alive today. His story was similar to that of Ibrahim Abdullahi, another survivor.
By the evening of April 4, news had already spread around Sabon Garin Nasarawa that casualty figures had risen to six. The sixth was 22-year-old Abdullahi, a student of the Kaduna State Polytechnic.
A bullet that penetrated his chest and forcefully exit his back threw him lifeless on Gwagwada Road axis of Trikania. Abdullahi was lucky the bullet spared his spinal cord. He said he saw a policeman shoot him. “He wanted to shoot me again when my mum come (came) and drag me down.”
Abdullahi would later spend hours at the hospital to regain consciousness and days to have his body mended.
Police complicit
Of the six victims (fatal and survivors) captured in this investigation, four was shot at close range, one shot at the head and the last shot at the ribs. Four were shot multiple times.
An inspector, who doesn’t want to be named for fear of victimisation, said even if they were provoked, the officers ought to deploy tactical withdrawal and then reinforce to calm irking nerves.
Although the 2020 Police Act is silent on the rules guiding the use of firearms, the Use of Force Order 237, which subsists as reference legislation, corroborates the former cop’s analysis.
The order authorises police officers to “only use (as last resort) objectively reasonable force, proportional to the threat or urgency of the situation, when necessary” and in this context, “only when 12 or more people remain violently assembled beyond a reasonable time after the reading of the proclamation, and that the persons conduct may lead to imminent death or serious injury to the police or other persons.”
The order notes further that “indiscriminate firing into a crowd is always unlawful” and officers must account for any use individuallyas stipulated Sections 25, 298 Criminal Code Act 1990. In cases when officers’ use of force leads to death or injury, such case is open to investigation by the court and such officer is liable under the Criminal Code.
Some bullets retrieved from the scene of the shooting were sighted by PREMIUM TIMES but the inspector says it is difficult to trace to individual cops as Nigeria lacks a register of ammunition and usage.
Blood, bullets yet no justice
The attack has mostly been kept away from the media with only a few reports based on a press statement existing as reference. In the statement, the Kaduna Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Jalige, said the investigation was ongoing ‘’while seven had been arrested’’.
But 10 months after, Mr Jalige could not provide details of the investigation.
None of the officers was on record subjected to internal probe nor was there any prosecution as stipulated by the law. MrJalige asked for more time to receive a briefing but never got back despite follow up.
PREMIUM TIMES also reached out to the state Commissioner of Police, Umar Muri, whodirected enquiries to the PRO.
The DPO of Kakuri Police Station, where the assailant officers are attached at first said he was not aware of the killings. He later said he would require a ‘clearance’ from the state command to comment on the issue.
None of the Umar, Aliyu, Muhktar and Sani’s loved ones would ever be pacified by this injustice. Apart from grieving the loss of their loved ones, they are further dejected by the fact that no move for justice was initiated even 10 months after.
They said there was no contact from anyone except for the effort by the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) to document the events back in May.
The Kaduna State Coordinator of the commission, Gwar Terngu, said details of the documentation were sent to the headquarters in Abuja for further action. But it’s 10 months now and there has been no response.
Denials still pervade the horrible killings, accusing fingers are still being pointed, relevant agencies still tardy in their responsibilities but these won’t deter the families of the deceased from clamouring for justice. They want the trigger-happy officers brought to book and some compensation for their losses.
This investigation was sponsored by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Reporting (PTCIJ)