Some residents of Makurdi have decried the high prices of foodstuff in the city, which they said, had forced them to adopt “austere measures” to survive the trend.
A cross section of the residents who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Makurdi, therefore, appealed to the Federal and the State Government to urgently intervene to address the situation.
They called on the governments to release grains for immediate sale at subsidised prices to the people to halt the trend.
Mrs Hembadoon Ter, a civil servant, appealed to the government to ” quickly intervene by subsidising prices of foodstuff to check the problem.
Ter complained that she hardly ” makes a list to the market because I end up spending more than what I budgeted.
“I thought things were expensive in the market because of the COVID-19 lockdown but even after the lockdown has been lifted and with life gradually returning to normalcy, prices are still going up daily,” she said.
According to her, half carton of noodles that was sold for N1,200 now sells for N1,500, while the prices of small packages of the commodity have been increased by N100, above the former price of N1,200.
Mr Terhemba Gbor, another resident, lamented that the last time he gave his wife money for shopping, she returned home with ” just a handful of items”.
Gbor said he decided to verify the prices by himself after his wife brought back few items from the shopping allowance but was shocked to find that the prices had indeed been hiked.
“The prices have been increased abnormally; a tin of Bournvita that I normally bought for N1, 500 is now N2,500, while a tin of milk which sold for N1,500 now sells for N2,000,” he said.
Mr Uchenna Ogor, a trader at the rice mill, Wurukum, said a tin of rice which contained 25 measures was sold at the rate of N10,000 in July but the same quantity now sold for N12,000.
Ogor expressed hope that with the expected good harvest this year, the prices would crash.
Another trader, Mrs Veronica Ihugh, said a bag of garri which she bought at N30,000 few weeks ago, was now selling at N40,000, while its custard rubber measure now sold for between N700 and N800 as against N350 or N500, before.
