Eid el-Kabir, regarded as one of the most important feasts in the Islamic calendar, provides temporary jobs for the youth in the north, who set up places to skin, sear and wash animals in readiness for the Feast of Sacrifice.<\/p>\n
Also known as Eid ul Adha, the festival is celebrated every year. It honours the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to Allah\u2019s command. But before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, Allah sent him a sheep instead.<\/p>\n
The act of Qurbani \u2013 slaughtering an animal \u2013 is carried out after the morning Eid prayers.<\/p>\n
A sharp knife is used to cut the jugular vein of the animal \u2013 usually a ram, goat or cow \u2013 to ensure a continuous and free flow of blood from the animal.<\/p>\n
Once the animal is slaughtered, it can be taken to a market where mostly temporary workers skin the animals. The heads, bodies and legs of are seared to remove the fur. The animals are washed to remove the burnt marks made by the searing and then returned to the owner.<\/p>\n
Ali Abbas, a resident and businessman of Maiduguri, told RNI reporter Abubakar Mustapha that every year at this time he worked at the Baga Road Market in Maiduguri.<\/p>\n
He said it was not his occupation, but it gave him a chance to make some money \u201cin this time of economic hardship\u201d.<\/p>\n
He charged 1,500 naira to sear a cow\u2019s head, 700 naira for a ram\u2019s head and 500 naira for a goat\u2019s head, depending on the size.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the animal is seared and washed, its owner comes to take it home to cook for the feast,\u201d Abbas said.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Saleh, an Eid celebrant, said he had offered his sacrifice in the morning and then went to the market to sear it and to sear other worshippers\u2019 offerings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a hard celebration for many in the north this year because a lot of people are living in poverty. The indigent can hardly afford to put food on the table every day, let alone have money to buy a sacrificial animal. They are struggling just to find food to eat, not what they can offer as a sacrifice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know of many people who cannot make the sacrifice this year because of the state of the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saleh said he had been searing animals at the market for about 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI quickly offer my sacrifice in the morning and go to the market to set up the place for the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he worked with 10 others. Some did the searing, some<\/u> boiled water to wash the burnt skin off the seared animal. Part of the job was to skin the animal first. They used knives and a cutlasses to do this.<\/p>\n