The high cost of living and low purchasing power of the masses, following rising inflation, has made many innovate various means of survival.

Even barbecue operators have been dealt many blows, as the costs of live beef and chicken have tripled, compared to previous years.

Economy&Lifestyle discovered that most barbecue operators are going out of business due to dwindling capital, hence to reduce cost and increase patronage, they now go for sub-standard beef and chicken.

Mrs. Rita Makinde, a frozen food seller, said most of these chickens are brought out from the cold room, after spending months in the cooler, sold to frozen food sellers, who then display them among their groceries, or on the ground.

“But these chickens, because of their long stay in the refrigerator, have lost flavour and taste.
“Some might have even gotten spoiled. It could be the lap, fingers, whole chicken, wings, among others.”

Apart from the cold room, Mrs Shola Kazeem, a frozen fish seller, explained that these sellers get these substandard chickens from retail sellers, who are unable to freeze their products due to low or lack of electricity supply, especially during festive seasons when they stock and are unable to finish selling everything on time.

“Instead of running a loss, they quickly sell it out to those barbecue sellers who in turn bury the bad taste with the various seasonings used to prepare the chicken.

“These chicken parts are sold at a very low cost compared to their original price when they are good.”
Mr Jerry Osaretin, a lecturer, said: “I hardly buy anything prepared from roadside sellers.

“Recently, I decided to try the barbecue chicken I came across every time I visit my friend after he persuaded me.

“ I bought it and decided to take it home.

“On getting home, I just left the chicken in the kitchen and went off to bed.

“The next day, an awful smell greeted me as I entered the kitchen. I was still wondering where the smell came from when I remembered the chicken.

“Opening it, I saw it was already slimming. Something that was roasted.

“I quickly discarded it and was happy I didn’t eat it. Imagine how my stomach would be if I had eaten it.
“It was later I discovered that many of these roadside roasted chicken sellers go for already spoiled chicken to save cost and make gains.

“Everything in this country is so delicate. We are consuming poison and no one is talking about it or taking actions to address the situation.”

Mrs. Joy Agbogun, a caterer, narrated how she stumbled across these chickens in the market.

“ It was a horrible sight, the day I saw these frozen bad chickens displayed on the floor in the market.
“Young guys were patronizing the seller and I was wondering what they were buying something this bad for.
“They were all chicken parts from the limbs, to the chest, lap, wings.

“I couldn’t get it off my chest so I told a friend. She told me that those are the chickens most roadside barbecue sellers roast and that those young guys are the barbecue sellers.

“I was dumbfounded. For two weeks , the sight of frozen chicken makes me want to throw up.”

Findings showed that the price of a full barbecue chicken is sold at N15,000 to N50,000 depending on where you buy it.

But the price of a fresh full frozen chicken depending on the size ranges between N9,000 to N12,000.