Due to border closure food prices rise by 50% in Kaduna

Kaduna residents are now feeling the pains arising from the border closure as the prices of food stuff, such as rice, frozen foods and others continue to witness an increase of up to 50 per cent.

Dailypost recalls that the Federal Government had closed its borders since Aug. 19 in an operation tagged: Ex-Swift Response.

The joint-border closure is meant to check the smuggling of goods into the country, as it’s being supervised by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Police and military personnel and coordinated by the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

But adding more pain to already hardship being experienced by lots of Nigerians, the prices of some food items from the land borders, especially the Republic of Benin have increased astronomically.

Kaduna residents, are now feeling the pain of the border closure as prices of immediate foods needed by every household has increased.

Dailypost reporter who went round Kaduna town early Tuesday discovered that, “a bag of rice that was sold around N12, 000 before now sells around N20,000 to N22,000.

Besides, a carton of frozen food (Orobo Chicken) that was sold before at the rate of N7,000 to N7,500 now sells for N12,000 to N13,000.

For every household in Kaduna city, these foods are essential to their survival because they are consumed in large quantity which necessitated their large importation.

A rice retailer, in Kakuri Market Kaduna, Alhaji Madugu Ibrahim lamented the absence of the locally produced rice which was the reason borders were shut, adding that they were not available.

Another wholesaler, Mr Idomiajoki Kaleja said the pains that arose from the border closure were much more than what the citizen could afford.

According to him, majority of Nigerians are unemployed. They could not afford the cost of food stuff in the market.

He appealed to the federal government to rescind its decision on closure of boarder.

According to him, high rate of kidnapping, assassin, and vices in the country were largely due to lack of jobs.(Dailypost)