Prices of food have sky rocketed in markets in Onitsha and environ following food blockade from the North.
At the grain seed market, Onitsha, trailer loads of tomatoes and pepper usually seen being offloaded were not there except for few Lorries and Vans.
It was gathered that a basket of tomato is now sold between twenty-five to thirty thousand naira while a basket of pepper sold at five to seven thousand naira is now sold between fifteen to twenty thousand naira.
A custard bucket of tomato is now one thousand, five hundred naira as against five hundred naira previously sold.
Also, a bag of onions sold between six to seven thousand naira is now seventeen to thirty thousand naira.
The prices of beans was also affected as a bag of big brown seed beans is now sold at fifty-four thousand naira as against fifty thousand sold before while the small brown seed beans is now fifty thousand naira which was sold at forty thousand naira before.
In their separate reactions, a pepper seller Mrs Philomena Amadi and a beans seller, Mr. Sunday Ali lamented the development which brought Scarcity of the food items saying that they couldn’t afford to buy the quantity they usually buy and are experiencing low patronage as the prices scares their customers too and pleaded with the government to wade into the matter to restore their businesses.
However, a rice dealer at the Grain Seed Market, Ichie Marcel Okpala said the development did not affect the prices of rice as a bag of foreign rice is still sold at twenty-two thousand naira while a bag of local rice is fourteen thousand naira.
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