Asaba – Some residents in Asaba on Tuesday decried the sudden increase in the price of bread in their communities.
A survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), showed that the medium-size sliced bread that previously cost N200 sold for N250 while the size that cost N100 previously was selling for N140.
Some of the residents, who spoke to NAN in Asaba, said that the increase in price was noticed on Tuesday morning when they went to buy bread at nearby shops.
“The normal sliced bread I used to buy for N200 now sells for N250.
“I was so surprised this morning when I gave my son N200 to buy me the normal sliced bread for breakfast, only for him to return the money.
“He requested for an additional N50 to buy the same size of bread.
“I was also informed that other sizes of bread attracted between N20 and N40 difference from what they used to be,’’ Mrs Agnes Okonji, who lives along Anwai Road, said
She appealed to bread sellers to reduce the price to enable the common man survive as bread was one of the major staple foods consumed by the lower class in the society.
Another resident, Mr Job Afam, told NAN: “ I eat bread on a daily basis but I am not comfortable with the increase in the price.
“I was surprised when I went to the shop to buy bread and the bread seller told me that the price of the N100 bread I used to buy had risen to N140.
“My children, especially the younger ones, eat a lot of bread, and with this new price, I do not know how I can cope to provide the commodity for them,’’ he said.
When contacted, a bread dealer along Nnebisi Road, Mr Obinna Nwachukwu, said that bread producers attributed the increase in price to the Yuletide.
“The dealers are not producing much bread for now because most of the workers have travelled for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
“But they assured us that the price of bread will come down when they commence full production after the celebrations,’’ he said.
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Meanwhile, NAN reports that workers resumed at various ministries and organisations visited, offering skeletal services.
Banks, however, resumed full operations with customers thronging their Automated Teller Machines for withdrawals.
NAN reports that long queues of vehicles were noticeable at petrol filling stations in Asaba, especially in areas where it was being sold at the approved pump price of N87. (NAN)
