Prices of staple food have continued to increase in Abuja and Nasarawa State, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
A NAN survey revealed that in Nasarawa and the FCT, residents are frustrated due to the price increase of staple food items.
A trader in Kubwa market, Mr. Dini Suleiman, said a bag of beans previously sold for N27,000 was now sold for N49,000.
Suleiman said a bag of Nigerian Rice previously sold for between N15,000 and N20,000 presently sold for N29,000 while a bag of foreign Rice that was sold for N25,000 now goes for N34,000.
A bag of yellow garri that was sold for N8,000 presently goes for N22,000 while white garri that was sold for N6,000 is presently sold for N17,000.
Suleiman said a bag of corn previously sold for N6,000 now goes for N20,000.
He attributed the increase in food prices to the cost of transportation, which he said had affected his purchasing power, hence the increase in food prices.
Mrs. Ofonbuk Okon in the Garki market said that 25 liters of palm oil that was sold for N7,000 was presently sold for N24,000 while 25 liters of groundnut oil that was sold for N12,000 now sold N32,000.
She said that four liters of palm oil go for N7,200 against N3,200 while four liters of groundnut oil go for between N5,500 to N10,000 depending on the product.
Another trader, Miss Blessing Anthony in Garki market, said palm oil that was sold for N10,000 now goes for N25,000 while groundnut oil that was sold for N15,500 now goes for N32,000, depending on the products.
She said that each time she goes to market to restore her shop, it usually frustrating because of the rate at which food items are increasing.
A garri seller in the Wuse market, Mrs. Ifeoma Udon, said a bag of yellow garri that was sold for N8,000, presently sold for N22,000 while white garri that was sold for N6,000, presently sold for N17,000
Udon said palm oil which was sold for N7,000, is presently sold for N24,000 while groundnut oil which was sold for N12,000, is now sold for N32,000.
Mr. Abubakar Musa, rice seller at Mararaba market, Nasarawa state said the price for foreign rice and local rice had increased, forcing most people to opt for local rice.
Musa said that a mudu of foreign rice goes for N1,500, while the local rice goes for N900 against N1,000 and N600 as at February this year.
Musa added that a bag of foreign rice previously sold for N32, 000 was presently being sold for N48, 000, adding that in some cases, bags of rice are being shortened which resulted in losses of profit.
He, however, attributed the increase in prices of grains to the high cost of transportation and the security challenges in the country.
Mrs. Janet Ibrahim, who sells maize at Aso Pada market, Nasarawa state, said that the price of maize per mudu was now N400 as against its former price of N150.
She said that a bag of maize now goes for N25,000 as against N15,000 and N10,000 respectively a few months ago.
Ibrahim attributed the increase in prices to the onset of the planting and rainy season.
Mr. Kaminu Abubarka at Aso Pada Market, said the cost of rice and beans is increasing every day due to the season.
“As at two weeks ago, I sold beans at N700 but this week, I sold it for N750 because the rains were not encouraging,” she said.
Mrs. Motun Makinde-Ola, another trader at Mararaba Organe market said food items prices skyrocketed in the last three weeks, adding that sellers complained that tension in certain parts of the country was responsible for the increase in price.
She said that practically all food items are affected by the crisis alluded to by the sellers.
”Widespread insecurity in northern and eastern Nigeria has compelled major suppliers of food items to the southern part of the country, particularly the south-western axis, to suspend supplies,” she said. (NAN)
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