Buyers wade through mud among the sheep, compare the size of the animals, negotiate prices: at the Kara market, on the outskirts of the megacity of Lagos, Muslim Nigerians are preparing for the Eid al-Adha festival.

But rising transport costs and increasing insecurity in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, have driven up the prices of sheep, whose meat is particularly prized during these celebrations practiced by about half the population.

The Kara market, located on the border of Lagos and Ogun states in southwestern Nigeria, receives thousands of animals daily from northern Nigeria, where most of the country's livestock is raised.

According to traders, sales have been low this year. Depending on its size, the price of a sheep varies between 250,000 naira (157 euros) and 1.2 million naira (753 euros), an increase of approximately 30% compared to last year.

"I was asked for 1.2 million naira for a sheep that isn't even very big," complains a buyer, Ibrahim Kosoko. "I had to look for something I could afford," around 400,000 naira (251 euros) - a small fortune in Nigeria, where the monthly minimum wage is set at 70,000 naira (44 euros) and where 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

- Jihadists -

The jihadist insurgency in the northeast of the country is deterring herders from going to markets.

"We are always afraid when we go to the market to buy livestock, because terrorists usually attack the markets where we get our supplies," Abdullahi Bukar, 29, who came from Yobe State (northeast) to sell his goods at the Kara market, told AFP.

"Sometimes, people avoid coming to the market to sell us their products out of fear," he adds.

The jihadist insurgency led by Boko Haram and its rival, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), has been ravaging northeastern Nigeria for 17 years and has spread to the northwest where other jihadist groups operate, driven by the deteriorating security situation throughout the Sahel region.

In Nigeria, more than 2,100 civilians were killed in "violent incidents, including terrorist attacks" during the first quarter of the year, according to SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based risk management consultancy.

- Fuels -

The increase in livestock prices also reflects the rise in transport costs, which is usual during the holiday season but particularly high this year due to the global surge in fuel prices linked to the war in the Middle East.

Gasoline prices have almost doubled in many parts of the country, rising from around 850 naira (0.53 euro) per liter to over 1,320 naira (0.82 euro) — a record in a country where gasoline was selling for around 195 naira (0.12 euro) per liter at the beginning of 2023.

"Truck drivers are asking us for about 2.7 million naira (1,693 euros) to transport our cattle," Abubakar Dauda, 33, from Adamawa State (northeast), told AFP.

This same service had cost him around one million naira (627 euros) in 2025. "We even spend up to 300,000 naira (188 euros) on police tolls and taxes in each state we cross," he specifies.

Many Muslims travel to other parts of Nigeria to celebrate the holiday with their families, but some are now considering abandoning their plans in the face of rising prices.

"I will have to spend at least 80,000 naira (50 euros) to make the round trip to my hometown with my child," calculates Taibat Bashir, 40, a civil servant.

"I can't afford it," she laments.