Metro
Mile 12 market chair links high cost of tomato and pepper to Insecurity and others
The Chairman of the Mile 12 International Market in Lagos, Shehu Usman Jubrin, says the recent high cost of tomato, pepper, and other perishable items is a result of widespread insecurity in the country and other factors.
The prices of the perishables have tripled, raising concerns among Nigerians.
In a chat with Channels TV this morning June 17, Usman said the insecurity in the north is a major factor for the hike in the cost of the items.
“The bone of contention, the real fact is just insecurity. Let me tell you, that’s the truth. And there’s absolutely nothing the country will do. This price hike will continue. They are still buying tomatoes, at the rate of N1,000 for three pieces. Ninety-nine per cent of the people in IDP camps are farmers. They don’t know anything apart from farming – both male and female. The people who are on the farm and are farming with one eye closed are just about 1,500 out of like 5,000 farmers we have across the whole country.”
According to him, some of the farmers negotiate with and pay bandits before they can go to their farms to harvest the products.
“In those places where you are getting all these items, there are negotiations between them and the bandits who ask them, ‘How much are you going to pay me to harvest and bring to the market?’So, for as long as those people are in IDP camps, the country will continue to be in trouble in terms of food items.” he said
He also linked it to other factors including supply shortage from the northern part of Nigeria to the south.
“Let me just talk about tomatoes first. From November, December, January, February, March, and April, up to May, you have tomatoes from the North.
You have danja, danjumi, kadawa, Kano and then Katsina states. This is the off-season now, so we expect tomatoes from Ilaro, Ogbomosho, Abeokuta, and Osun to come to Lagos, you know, and also part of Cameroon. That is a kind of substitute for the northern one.
But unfortunately, it’s late: the one from Cameroon, the one from Abeokuta and Ogbomosho. And as we approach the festive period, tomatoes will be expensive. The northern tomatoes are finished and we don’t have substitutes from the south.”
He also blamed the situation on pests, saying diseases have led to low yields.
The people of Ugama village in the Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State are in fear after some individuals, suspected to be cattle rustlers, launched an attack involving ritual killings and theft of property on Thursday.
Reports indicate that the attackers are Fulani from Ugama village. Eyewitnesses have confirmed that at least 20 people were slaughtered, while many others were injured.
Malam Yusufa Ugama, a resident who narrowly escaped the attack, stated that after the ritual killings, some of the assailants attacked the village and set it on fire. He also mentioned that the village’s livestock was stolen.
The motive for the attack remains unclear, but Yusufa explained, “We saw people armed with guns, machetes, and knives, and they were calling themselves cattle rustlers.”
A source also revealed that there had been a dispute between the villagers and their chief, whose name was not disclosed, over the sale of village farmland.
The Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna State Police Command, DSP Mansur Hassan, confirmed the incident to TST Hausa, but stated that the police had not yet received any formal complaints from the villagers or any group regarding the attack or those accused of the killings.
Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources has disciplined some individuals for defecating on the Ile Epo Pedestrian Bridge in the Abule Egba area of the state.
Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, disclosed this in a post on X.com on Saturday.
Wahab stated, “The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources enforcement team has taken decisive action at Ile Epo Pedestrian Bridge, addressing the issue of hoodlums who defiled the bridge with waste and defecation.”
The offenders were arrested on Saturday and tasked with cleaning the bridge, removing all waste and restoring it to a hygienic condition.
Similarly, the commissioner said hotspots were raided and hoodlums nabbed.
He said: “In the early hours of today, the Lagos State Environmental Task Force embarked on raid of some notable spots within Ikeja.
“Some miscreants had turned them to safe havens to perpetrate evil act by unleashing attack on unsuspecting late and early hours innocent passers-by, particularly those coming in and out of Ambiance Hotel within the area.
“They dispossesses them of their personal belongings.
“The area raided includes black spots around Ayinke House, Ikeja, under bridge and all around Ambiance Hotel. 27 suspects were arrested and will be charged to court,” he noted.
A suspected internet fraudster, who allegedly killed an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during an arrest operation in Anambra, has been detained.
An official of the anti-graft agency told TheCable that the suspect opened fire on the EFCC operatives during an operation on Friday, killing an operative in the process and injuring another.
The source said the slain officer was buried in Sokoto on Saturday, adding that the suspect is being detained at the EFCC’s zonal headquarters in Enugu state.
“The incident was a very unfortunate one; the dead officer has been buried today in Sokoto; the incident shows the dimension that internet fraud is taking,” he said.
“The guy (suspect) has also been detained at our office in Enugu today.”
When TheCable reached out to Dele Oyewale, the EFCC spokesperson, for comment, messages sent to his WhatsApp were delivered, but he did not respond to calls put through to his mobile phone.
Tochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesperson in Anambra, confirmed to TheCable that a suspect attacked EFCC operatives, resulting in one death and a serious injury to another official.
Ikenga said the command responded to a distress call on Friday, arrested an unnamed suspect, and recovered a pump-action gun in the Ifite area of the state.
“Anambra police operatives in the early hours of 17/1/2025 responded to a distress call at No. 1 Ekwutife Close, Ifite, and arrested one suspect and recovered one pump-action gun, where operatives of the Economic Financial Crime Commission Operatives on investigation activities were attacked by a suspect, which resulted in the death of one and serious injury to another of the operatives,” the police spokesperson said.
He added that police have commenced an investigation into the incident, adding that further developments will be communicated.
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