The Chairman of the Mile 12 International Market in Lagos Shehu Usman Jubrin has pinned the recent high cost of tomato, pepper, and other perishable items on insecurity and other factors.
A small basket of tomatoes goes for about N35,000 in Lagos State while the price of pepper has also jumped, raising concerns among Nigerians.
But Usman says 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 tomato, at the rate of N1,000 for three pieces,” he said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
“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.”