Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement of a complete lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states for the next two weeks, residents of the FCT and its environs have embarked on a last-minute rush to stock up on food items and other essentials.
Prices of food items had recorded exponential increase orchestrated by the directives handed down by the president on Sunday in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which has ravaged the world.
Food items such as onions, plantains, garri, rice, beans, fruits and vegetables are out of the reach of most Nigerians due to price hike.
At Farmers Market, Maitama, a basket of onions which ordinarily sold for N700 climbed to N2, 500. A basket of orange is sold for N500 unlike before when it was sold for N200. A basket of tomatoes has jumped from N1,500 to N3,000.
A buyer, Margaret Udo, who spoke to our correspondent, lampooned the hike adding that it was unreasonable for sellers to increase the cost of food items.
“What is going on in the country is lamentable and regrettable. Food sellers are taking advantage of the lockdown order to frustrate people.
It is not as if we are in a festive period that things would ordinarily climb. Worst of it is that government has not paid salaries,” she said.
Peter Achimugu, a civil servant, could not hold back his displeasure over the situation.
“We are gradually losing d.
our sense of kindness in this country. The hike in food prices these days is unfortunate. I bought a basket of pepper for N1,800 whereas I was buying it for N700. It is really sad and frustrating,” he said.
But Adamu Musa, a food item seller, said the increase was no fault of theirs because transportation cost had increased.
He said: “Customers are just complaining without knowing what we go through. Transportation has ods. We cannot eat what we sell by ourselves, we must sell them.
increased and we need to add it to our goods. We cannot eat what we sell by ourselves, we must sell them.
“Besides, this lockdown will really affect our goods because most of them will spoil. So we have to sell. Let customers bear with us.”
For Mr Innocent Marcus, he said he was shocked that