Butchers and consumers
    in part of Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State particularly those within the Rumuekini, Rumuosi and Alakahia axis have lamented over the short supply of livestock, which has resulted to scarcity of meat in the areas.
They have alleged that the trend with respect to supply of meat in the market has indeed reduced because of the inability of the supplies from the northern part of the country to transport the stock down.
Fear of perceived violence that might mar tomorrow’s election in the country  has been fingered as the reason why the suppliers have momentarily ceased to ship the stocks down.
One of the butchers in Rumuosi market; Mr Francis Udoh, said that the short supply in meat is because of the absence of dealers who have travelled because of the election.
He said, “As you can see the cows we have now are few, unlike before. The people that bring them from the north have travelled to their places for the election, and I believe that after election, things will normalise”.
Justifying the reason for the increase in the cost, another butcher, Mr Ade Oladapo said that the few available live stock is not enough to meet the demands;
He said, “what will you expect, when there is short supply, the price will increase, but all these will stop when the election is over, by the grace of God.
Meanwhile, one of the meat consumers, Mrs Blessing Ideh, has lamented over the sudden change in price of meat stressing that dealers have taken advantage of the election week to increase price.
She noted that the quantity of meat she used to buy for N3,000 to run her small eatery has been reduced by almost half.

Corlins Walter