The prices of root and tuber crops like yam and Irish potatoes have gone up in some markets in the FCT ahead of the Sallah celebration.

However, prices of foodstuffs like rice, beans, and garri have remained stable.

This was confirmed in a market survey in Abuja.

READ ALSO: Price Of Tomatoes Drops In Enugu Major Markets

A set of yam which consists of five tubers is sold for N5,500 or N6,000 depending on the size of the tuber.

The same set of yam was sold before now between N3,000 and N4,000.

Musa Ibrahim, a yam seller who sells yam on a cart confirmed the increment in the price adding that yam is now very expensive.

Ibrahim said that a piece of yam tuber is now sold for N1,200 or N1,000 up from the old price of N500.

“I don’t have a tuber that can be sold for a lesser amount; these yams are white yams, they are not the type that is good outside and bad inside,” he said.

Abdul-Rasheed Bisola, a buyer also lamented the increment saying that unlike before when a piece of yam was N500, one would be lucky to buy one for N800 now.

Bisola added that the expensive yams were also small in size and dry.

Irish potato is another expensive tuber crop in the market, according to the NAN survey.

Adamu Suleiman, a potato seller in the popular Nyanya Market also confirmed this.

“A basket of Irish potato is N2,500 and this same basket was sold before now, for N1,700 or less.

“I do not cultivate this crop, I usually travel to Plateau State to buy and bring down to Abuja here,” Suleiman said.

According to him, the cost of potatoes in the Plateau is also high because this is not the season when the crop flourishes on the farm.

Issa Danjuma, a trader at Karu Market said he sold a dustbin basket of Irish potato for N2,600 adding that he used to sell it for
N2,200.

Danjuma also attributed the increase in prices of tubers such as yam and potato, to the rainy season saying they did not grow well during the rain.

Bassey Glory, a customer said she bought the small basket of Irish potato for N400, adding that she used to buy it between N250 and N300.

Glory lamented that potatoes sold in dustbin baskets were the most annoying because the sellers deliberately put the big tubers on top but when the basket was emptied, most of the pieces underneath were tiny.

Operatives of Benue State Police Command, have arrested two kidnappers in the Katsina Ala Local Government Area of the state.

The policemen also uncovered mass graves dug by the kidnappers.

Recall that the Osun State Police Command had last Saturday announced the arrest of eight members of a gang, who are from Benue State, in the Omo Ijesa area of the state.

The spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, had explained in a statement on Saturday that the eight-member kidnap and abducted one Catherine Akiishi and relocated to the state to negotiate the ransom for her and added that the suspects would be handed over to the Benue State Police Command.

Two of the suspects, Aondoaseer Terseer, aka Bob Tsetse, 23, and Orkashima David, aka Cash Money, led a team of detectives to the shallow graves, where their victims were buried in order to conceal their nefarious activities.

The suspects claimed to have been working for one Azonto, a militia and he late Gana’s second-in-command and were responsible for several kidnappings and killing of security agents in the Sankera area of Benue State.

Three male and three female decomposing bodies were recovered in the shallow graves, with two of the females killed in January and April identified as wives of two of the suspects.

The victims were identified as John Nyitamen, Catherine Akiishi, Aondoverb Fidelix as well as wives of two of the suspects.

The suspects were said to have confessed to killing their wives, with Tertse allegedly saying his wife died when a piece of wood he threw at her pierced her neck following a misunderstanding.

David said his wife’s death was instigated by his father after he accused her of trying to set him up by calling security agents.

According to him, through the help of his two other gang members, the wife was killed and her remains buried in a shallow grave.

The suspects gave the names of their other gang members as Umangu Ihuman, aka Aka; Agwe, aka Banga; Aondover Ihom, aka D’ver; Luper; and Yaryon, aka Snake, adding that four of them had been killed by security agents.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Catherine Anene, who confirmed the discovery, said she was still expecting details of the operation carried out by her colleagues in Katsina Ala.

A man, whose identity could not be ascertained as of press time, has been set ablaze at the Nkpor junction in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

It was gathered that the suspect snatched a handkerchief from a victim and bolted away, thinking that it was money.

A source who witnessed the incident accounted that “the deceased, in company with his gang members, was at the junction robbing passers-by of their valuables.

“The deceased stole a handkerchief from a victim’s pocket and took off with his gang members, thinking that it was money

“The victim raised the alarm, which attracted sympathisers, who immediately mobilised and pursued them.

“One of them was apprehended, while the others escaped. The apprehended robber was beaten to a pulp and asked to identify or disclose the whereabouts of his fleeing accomplices, but he refused and was set ablaze.”

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ikenga Tochukwu said the body of the deceased had been recovered, while investigation had commenced.

“Around 11am, there was a mob action on a suspected thief that resulted in the setting ablaze of the suspect at the Nkpor roundabout.

“Police operatives attached to the Ogidi Division quickly rushed to the scene, recovered the body and cordoned off the area to prevent a breakdown of law and order,” he stated.