The multiple road blocks by men of the Nigeria Police, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and local governments ‘touts’, among others have been fingered as responsible for the high prices of food stuff in the country.
Respondents told Blueprint that, though the security situation in the northern part of the country has contributed its share to the food crisis faced by consumers, the situation would not have been this bad.
A lady from Kebbi state, Sado Christiana who came from home told Blueprint that the prices of grains (rice) back in the state are quite cheap. According to her, the rubber container which is being sold in Lagos at N3,000 each is actually sold at N800 back in Yobe and other northern states.
According to Sado, harvest was bountiful this year, and commodities are quite cheap at home.
A food commodity dealer who specializes in making contacts of buyers of large food commodities in Lagos, thereafter uses his contacts in the north to bring in the commodities told Blueprint why the prices more than triple by the time it gets to Lagos.
The middleman named Abunakar Ibrahim explained that, the Police have specific amount the collect from the drivers at check points and boundaries of states. According to Abubakar, the situation becomes worse at Niger state border, Kogi state and Ekiti.
He explained that, the FRSC would always hide under the pretense of overloading to collect money from the drivers.
His grievance is that, the VIO would also replicate the job of the FRSC in few kilometers away to still collect more money from the drivers.
Another mind blowing revelation is the one that has to do with ‘unofficial’ staff of the local governments, particularly those near the border of the states. Abubakar said, they forcefully collect huge amount from the drivers before allowing them to pass.
