The Borno state chapter of the Butchers Association and their Cattle Dealers counterpart have faulted the continuous closure of the Cattle Market (Kasuwan Shanu) and the state abattoir Maiduguri.
While addressing a press conference at the Borno state Correspondents’ Chapel’s Office, the state chairman of the Butchers Association, Alhaji Abubakar Gula said the closure of the market and the abattoir have led to the loss of jobs of over two million members of the two associations and those earning their living in these places.
He said that military operatives chased them out of the cattle market and abattoir without telling them the reason for their action, only to hear on the radio that their members are involved in buying cattle stolen by Boko Haram, adding that it is the responsibility of the security agencies to arrest any suspect among them and that they are ready to cooperate with the security agencies in order to fish out the criminal elements among them, if any.
Alhaji Gula said that they are not on strike but that the lack of meat was as a result of the closure of the cattle market, adding that they have directed all their members not to slaughter any animals at home or in any unauthorized places, as the safety and health of the general public is their concern.
According to him, it is the responsibility of the security agencies to stop any stolen items from getting to the cattle market, as they have road blocks, pointing out that the closure of the market and abattoir has deprived over 2 million people of their jobs, as he said that in the butchers association they have over 250 registered members in Maiduguri alone plus their displaced members from various local government that joined them.
They called on the military authorities, Borno state Government and the Shehu of Borno to please re-open their places of business in order not to add more hardship to their members, as people are already suffering from the Boko Haram insurgency.
On his part, the vice chairman Cattle dealers Association, Alhaji Yakuba Goni said “our cattle are dying, as the cattle were locked up in the market and there is no way we can feed them, we don’t have food to eat, so the concerned authorities should do something about it.”
