Lokoja
Hundreds of buyers who trooped to Lokoja International market on Tuesday to buy food stuff stockpile their house with such in anticipation of any eventuality arising Coronavirus, paid through their nose as the prices of goods hit the roof, Duaglobalnews, an online medium, reports.
Our correspondent who visited the market reports that the buyers were confronted with the concept of high demand chasing few supply, resulting in prihibitive prices of consumable and no consumable items.
The online medium also reports that the market remained closed as part of efforts to check large crowd of people as well as guard against the spread of Coronavirus in the state.
However, few traders who disobeyed the order and sold their goods outside the gate of the market cashed on the situation to increase the prices of goods amidst large turn out of buyers.
Coronavirus 2019, otherwise known as COVID-19 which began its journey in Wuhan, China December 2019 and now declared as pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has so far reached 189 countries with over 3300,000 cases and 14,510 deaths.
As at the time of this report, Kogi has no reported case of Coronavirus.
Our correspondent noted that foodstuff such as yam,garri, tomato,pepper, red and ground oil, crayfish, meat, fish among others goods carried prihibitive prices in their tags.
Duaglobalnews check showed that a measure of garri in four litres of rubber paint,a staple food for the common man, hitherto sold for between N500.00 and N600.00 skyrocketed to N900.00 during the market.
Same went for soup ingredients among others goods whose prices also went beyond the purchasing capacity of those of lower income, a development buyers described as going beyond their widest imagination in recent time.
“It is indeed well with the hike in the prices of foodstuff and other essential things in the home, today at the international market in Lokoja.
“We did not expect the prices of foodstuffs will hit the roof like this. It is unimaginable.
“Our prayer is that, Coronavirus will soon leave us,” Mrs Amina Saliu, one of the buyers said.
However, an economist, Mr Micheal Alabi, described what happened at the market as a normal principle of economics.
According to him, when the demand is more than supply, there is bound to be an increase in the prices of goods and services in any society.
“Perhaps, the unexpected hike in prices food stuff is due to panic buying and of course, the price we have to pay to stay alive as far the threat posed by COVID-19 is concerned,” he said.
He urged the public not to panic much, adding, that” the situation will return to normalcy as soon as the issue of Coronavirus is out of the surface of earth, sooner than later.
“The best we can do for now is to adhere religiously to the advise of health workers to safe guard us contracting the disease,” the expert urged.
