As Ramadan commenced on Saturday, prices of food stuffs have gone up in Jalingo town, Taraba State.
Daily Trust’s findings revealed that items affected by the price increase include beans, rice, groundnut and palm oil.
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Others are sugar, millet, maize, seasoning, vegetables and fruits.
Findings revealed that a measure of white beans sold at N850 a few days ago is now sold for N1,200 while a measure of locally-processed rice sold at N800, is now N950.
Similarly, a measure of millet sold for N400 is now N500, while that of sugar which used to N1,200 is being sold for N1,500.
A 25-litre jerry can of groundnut oil sold for N29,000 is now N32,000.
Residents interviewed on the price increase of the essential items expressed disappointment and blamed traders for using such period to exploit members of the public.
One of the residents, Mallam Sani Garba, said it had been the usual trend in Jalingo for traders to increase prices of food during fasting and festive period such as Eid and Christmas.
He urged traders to always fear God “in their business activities and stop exploiting innocent consumers to make high profit.”
But a trader in Jalingo main market said the price increase was as a result of high cost of transportation caused by the scarcity of diesel and petrol.
He said most of the items were purchased in faraway areas like Lagos and Kano and that drivers charged them high fares.
