Headline

Starvation Looms As Baking Industry Moves To Shut Down Over High Cost Of Production

Published

3 years ago

October 9, 2021

Editor

Baking industry producing bread, a major staple food in Nigeria is currently shutting down operation in some parts of the country following the high cost of essential ingredients including flour, sugar and other items.

DAILY POST observed that some bakeries in the Federal Capital Territory had already shut down since May 2021 and resorted to other businesses following constant surge in bags of flour and sugar.

Price of bread in some parts of the country had previously witnessed increments despite decrease in quality and quantity by bakers who complained of running at losses due to the surge in materials.

Our correspondent gathered that a loaf hitherto sold at N400 is currently been marketed between N600 and N700, worsening the hardship imposed on Nigerians following the economic and security crisis bedeviling the entire nation at the moment.

DAILY POST’s finding also reveals that a bag of flour which was sold between N11,000 to N12,000 in January this year, has skyrocketed to N23,000 and above triggering the decision of the bakers to suspend operations pending when normalcy returns.

Similarly, a bag of sugar which was sold at the rate of N13,000 in late 2020 is currently sold for N25,000 and above in many parts of the country.

Speaking with DAILY POST, Chief Executive Officer of a popular bakery in Delta State, Mandela Makinde said he has shut down his company till further notice, stressing that he had been running at a loss for the past seven months.

According to him, the price of flour increases on a weekly basis, stressing that he lost over N300,000 in September while trying to keep the business afloat.

He hinted on alleged moves by some bakery owners in the state to resort to substandard way of producing breads by using harmful ingredients in a bid to continue the business.

According to him, “We have basically ran at a loss for the past 7 months, been keeping it open with personal funds just so my workers would have a job while I thought there would be change, but at this moment we have no other choice than to shut down.

“I am currently at the bakery and nothing is going on. We have suspended all activities here pending when the price of flour reduces.

“The price of flour and other ingredients have consistently continued to rise since the beginning of this year. As a CEO, I don’t have a single flour now because the last time I went to the market, the price they gave me was too high and I couldn’t afford it.”

Asked if there is a plan to further increase the price of bread, he said “it is an individual business, so you cannot actually fix the price of bread because it is a competitive market. If your price is higher than every other person’s own, customers will go for the cheaper ones.”

Speaking on reasons for the constant increments, the CEO said “since wheat importers started to source their Fx from the black market, the price of flour has continued to rise”.

He called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to investigate some bakeries, alleging that some of them use ‘Bromate and Sacarine’, products considered to be harmful to health.

“Many have played with volume in order to keep the price steady, some are beginning to add dangerous items such as ‘Bromate and Sacarine’ to keep their prices low”.

Similarly, Mr Adebayo Ayomide, a bakery owner in Bwari Area Council, FTC Abuja told DAILY POST that he has converted the bakery to a mini poultry due to the constant surge in price of flour.

He said, “Before I shut down the bakery recently, I was already indebted. What I usually do was to go to the market and get the flour from the seller then pay him after selling the bread but unfortunately, I was no longer making even the capital not to talk of profit. I had to stop and look for alternative.

“The country is so hard right now that relatively, nothing is working. Even this poultry, the chicken feed is very expensive and that is why you see that the price of egg is always increasing”.

Speaking with DAILY POST in Abuja, a bread consumer, Miss Jennifer lamented the level of hardship currently bedeviling the masses saying no food is presently affordable to the poor.

“Gone are the days when some food items like garri, bread were seen as poor man’s food. Now, both the rich and the poor are struggling for the items.

“The money is not there, common bread that you can just eat with soft drinks to quench hunger is no longer there, garri is not affordable, rice is never a poor man’s food so what do we do?

“The moment you begin to think that things will get better, you will just hear something worse. How did we get here? And the major problem in this country is that nothing goes up and comes down.”

DAILY POST reports that the development may worsen the economy as many employees of the bakeries shutting down across the country would be pushed to the streets as jobless people.

Headline

‘You’re Guilty’ – Judge Roars, Jailed UK-based Nigerian Pastor, Wife 34 Years For Raping, Assaulting Members

Published

8 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Editor

A Nigerian pastor, Michael Oluronbi and his wife Juliana, have been sentenced to jail for 34 years in the UK after Oluronbi was found guilty of sexual offences against six women and a man.

He abused children and adults for over 20 years after convincing the victims to take part in “spiritual bathing to cleanse them of evil spirits.”

Olurnobi was jailed for 34 years for offences of multiple rapes of members of his congregation.

He was convicted of “fifteen counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault and at least 88 separate occasions on which he raped his victims.”

Birmingham Crown Court heard that some of the victims became pregnant multiple times, but Olurnobi would take them to abortion clinics, as a cover-up for the abuse.

His wife was jailed for 11 years for three counts of aiding and abetting rape, as she assisted Olurnobi in arranging abortions for the victims.

Both defendants will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

Oluronbi was linked to a Christian church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, whose roots were in Nigeria. He had set up his own splinter group at another address and from where he began the “spiritual bathing.” The jury heard how the offences took place in Birmingham and London.

Sentencing “arrogant” Oluronbi on Friday, Judge Buckingham said: “You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths. Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite. The children feared you and this enabled you to continue your grip. Your offending has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants. Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation. You abused your position of trust – they trusted you like God.”

The judge continued: “You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man. In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.”

When confronted about his offences, Oluronbi said “The devil made me do it”.

Phil Bradley QC, prosecuting, told the jury:

“The Crown’s case is that Mr Oluronbi used what he called ‘spiritual work’ as a subterfuge for that sexual abuse. The main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer ‘holy baths’ to some of his congregation in order to ‘cleanse’ them and protect them from evil influences. That activity began when his victims were children. There can be no doubt that its real purpose was to serve his sexual gratification.”

He added that for some of the female victims the offending “progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations”.

“You will learn that this man, who was revered and feared by his victims, kept a vice-like grip on many of them and continued to abuse them well into adulthood.”

The victims described him as “controlling” and “almost like a king”.

Oluronbi was arrested in May 2023, at Birmingham Airport while trying to leave the UK for Nigeria.

Headline

Lady Arrested For Allegedly Harassing, Cyberstalking Crown Prince Of Benin Kingdom [VIDEO]

Published

10 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

Cynthia Morgan has been arrested for allegedly persistently harassing and cyberstalking His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of the Benin Kingdom. Prince Ezelekhae Ewuare.

According to a lawsuit filed by his team of lawyers, the singer, also known as Madrina, has been desperately trying to reach the Prince and trailing him on his work days.

Frustrated at not meeting him, she allegedly began publishing lies and defamatory statements against him on Instagram from 2020 to date.

According to the court documents, the Crown Prince filed a suit against her, warning her to desist from defaming him, but she ignored all his warnings.

She is also alleged to have attempted to contact him through various phone lines, which he immediately blocked.

She allegedly succeeded in reaching him via phone call on May 3rd, 2024, and began making statements that seemed to come from a place of delusion.

Screenshots of chats allegedly sent by the singer to the Prince have also been released.

A video shared online shows Cynthia being led by men suspected to be police officers out of her home.

Recall that in November 2023, Cynthia publicly accused the Crown Prince of bewitching her and physically assaulting her to prevent her from marrying someone else.

The Crown Prince responded to these allegations on his Instagram story, announcing his intention to file a lawsuit against Cynthia.

At the time, the singer doubled down and shared images of her and the Prince from 2018.

She then promised to share her side of the story.

Watch the video below.

Headline

$2.5bn Fraud: EFCC To Collaborate With UK Prosecutors In Diezani’s Case

Published

19 hours ago

May 13, 2024

Editor

There were signs over the weekend that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission plans to join forces with the United Kingdom prosecutors as an interested party in the trial of former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, in a UK court.

A team from the anti-graft commission is expected in London to initiate this process by filing relevant documents, the Nation reports.

According to a source privy to the information, the EFCC intends to share its findings and the Abuja high court’s forfeiture order concerning Diezani’s $2.5 million properties and vehicles with the UK court.

“This country may not be able to retrieve questionable assets from Diezani if the EFCC does not file an application as an interested party. We have received an advisory on this important bend to Diezani’s trial and we will be part of the case in the UK. A team will leave for London any moment from now to explore legal opportunities and file necessary papers as an interested party.

“The overall aim is for Nigeria to benefit from Diezani’s trial, especially the recovery of all assets linked to funds looted in this country. The EFCC has sufficient evidence against Diezani, including a court order on the former minister’s $2.5 million homes and cars.

“In another case, a former chairman of EFCC confirmed that the commission recovered $153 million and secured the final forfeiture of over 80 properties in Nigeria valued at about $ 80 million. The allegations against Diezani by the EFCC border on the alleged stealing of about $2.5 billion from Nigeria’s coffers as a minister.” the source said.

The source continued, “It is necessary for this nation to rise to the occasion because, in March 2023, the NCA also provided evidence to the US Department of Justice that enabled them to recover assets totalling $53.1 million linked to Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s alleged corruption.

“Like the P&ID case, the EFCC has sufficient evidence to pull through a case against Diezani. We want all stolen, diverted and questionable assets back in the custody of Nigeria for the good use of our citizens.I think the EFCC is collaborating with the NCA in the UK on this.

“It is also unclear if the UK court will ask Diezani to return to Nigeria to serve prison terms if convicted. This is why we also need to be an interested party in the case in the UK.”

Last year, the Head of the NCA’s international corruption unit, Andy Kelly, said the “charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation”.

“Bribery is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries.

“We will continue to work with partners here and overseas to tackle the threat.”

Diezani is currently facing trial at the Southwark Crown Court in the UK over an alleged £100,000 bribe.

The National Crime Agency alleged that Diezani could have received benefits worth at least £100,000, including cash, chauffeured cars, private jet flights, luxury family vacations, and multiple London properties.

On October 2, 2023, a Magistrate Court granted bail to the former Minister for £70,000, considering her a potential flight risk.

The trial proceedings for Diezani’s case are scheduled to commence in November 2025.

In October 2023, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, submitted a warrant of arrest and request to the Crown Prosecution Services of the United Kingdom for the urgent extradition of a former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke.