Some food sellers in Enugu have lamented the high cost of foodstuffs and other commodities in the state, saying it is making their food business difficult on a daily basis.
A cross-section of food sellers, who spoke during a survey by journalists in Enugu on Saturday, lamented their inability to buy the quantities of food needed for their businesses.
A food seller at Mayor Market, Vera Uzochukwu, said she could no longer make a reasonable profit due to the high cost of foodstuffs, adding that she was managing to keep her business moving.
“It has not been easy for me since the removal of fuel subsidies; prices of foodstuffs and other commodities go up on a daily basis, which has been making it difficult for me to run this food business as I should,” she said.
Another seller, Faith Ani, at Amechi Bus-Stop, explained that following the increase in prices of foodstuffs, she was forced to increase the price of her food from N300 to N500 per plate.
Chidimma Agu, another food seller at Garki Market, said that she had to reduce the quantity of her food in order not to increase the price, as customers were complaining about the price increase by other food vendors.
“For me not to lose my customers, I had to reduce the quantity of the food for them to pay the usual price of N300 per plate without meat and N400 with a piece of meat,” she said.
Joy Ilodibe, another food seller at Old Park, said she used to make about N15,000 daily, but now she hardly makes up to N10,000 due to the high cost of foodstuffs.
Ms Ilodibe called on the government to take deliberate steps to reduce the cost of foodstuffs in the country.
However, one of the customers, Collins Umeh, blamed the food price increase on the food sellers, adding that they also increased the prices on their own to maximise profits and not because of subsidy removal on petroleum.
(NAN)