The hike in the prices of food commodities has been linked to the Boko Haram insurgency in the North, among other factors, investigations have revealed.

For instance, the price of cattle has increased by 20 per cent. Cattle are predominantly bred in the northern states and transported to the markets down south by trucks.

When our correspondent visited the Lagos abattoir at Oko-Oba, Agege in Lagos, many cattle dealers confirmed the hike in the price of the animals, which had also led to an increase in the price of meat.

A cattle dealer, Mr. Dotun Badmus, said that a cow which cost N100, 000 at the end of April was now being sold at N120,000.

According to him, the price of cattle had been on the increase for the past four months.

This, Badmus said, was because of the drop in the number of cows coming into the market, which fell short of the demand by consumers.

He also said the prices of many other food items coming from the North were affected.

The Financial Secretary, Cattle Dealers Association, Alhaji Issa Mohammed, explained that there were reports that the cattle rearers in the North were running at a loss because the insurgents were attacking them with their animals.

He said, “The cattle are usually brought to Lagos from Taraba, Borno, Yobe, Sokoto and other northern states, but the number has reduced because we have heard that Boko Haram insurgents disturbing them.

“The constant attacks on them and their animals have forced them to move to neighbouring countries such as Niger and Cameroon.”

This finding is supported by the Consumer Price Index Report for the month of May released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which stated that increases in the prices of meat and bread had pushed up the country’s inflation rate to eight per cent.

Sunday Punch also discovered that although the price of flour had been stable for a while, confectioners were complaining of the reduction in the quantity of the product.

A baker at Ketu market, Mrs. Jumoke Adebisi, said, “The quantity of flour in a 50kg bag, which I usually purchased for N6,000, has reduced from 16 paint buckets to 15 paint buckets; It is not helping business at all.”

(PUNCH)