The actress had received criticism on many a movie she starred in making her a hot cake for producers who want her to be part of their movies due to her logic in script interpretation.
The enchanting young actress still have a lot in store for her and she could achieve whatever she want to achieve in the industry.
Nollywood is just a step in the right direction to become a world renowned.
She has the charisma, physics, face and other attributes anyone could think of to become a star. But the crazy incidents of late is not telling good of her image. It could be a strategy to be hyped by the media, but controversies easily kills a celebrity's image.
According to Hitz, there is a current gang up to frustrate the career of actress, Tonto Dikeh, who is also a darling to controversies.
Tonto who hugs, chews and pampers controversy in a very helplessly controversial manner is said to have bitten more than she can chew in recent times following her rude and troublesome behaviour while on set.
A certain top movie Director who wouldn't want his name mentioned, was directing a movie on a set at Asaba with Tonto Dikeh playing lead in the movie and ever since he came back to Lagos after the shoot, he has not stopped complaining about how rude and abusive Tonto played out herself all through at the location.
According to him, "Tonto Dikeh is such a rot and lacks every bit of home training, apologies to her parents. 'I tried to control myself in order not to disrupt the set, but I got upset over the kind of insult Tonto, heaped on the makeup artiste on the set. A woman who is old enough to be her mother" 'Are you stupid, don't you know what you are supposed to do? Must I remind you before you'll know you are supposed to make me up'? Those were said to be Tonto's words to the already fuming makeover artiste who was at the verge of throwing back some punch lines at her.
At this point, the director was said to have lashed at Tonto seriously and washed her in, out, left, right and center until the situation was later calmed down by the producer of the movie. This was sequaled by a certain report made available to this medium that due to her controversial lifestyle and appetite for trouble, Tonto's colleagues now isolate themselves from her, as well as some of her very close friends.
Meanwhile a check by Hitz has revealed that top movie producers and directors have teamed up to frustrate Tonto Dikeh due to mannerless attitude while on set. According to them, "that little brat, apart from her addictions to marijuana and cigarette, doesn't give a damn about whose ox is gored, she abuses, throw tantrums and fight on set at every slightest provocation and we must make sure she's humiliated. She seem to have gathered to much weight and has hurriedly forgotten those days when she used to go on bended knees for a 'waka pass' role in movies. We'll teach her a lesson'. They vowed.
On the other hand, records have it that the 'Mother Controversy' as Tonto is now widely addresses by colleagues doesn't enjoy the best of relationship with most of her colleagues. Among whom are: Mercy Johnson, her arch rival, Mamma Gee, even though she was credited of introducing her to the industry big time, Genevieve, although the genesis of their disagreement was not stated, Nonso Diobi for rebuking her over abusive comments on Mercy Johnson. Other names given are, Nuella Njubigbo and Monalisa Chinda, all of whom are producers' top demands in movies.
Meanwhile producers and directors, who have worked with her, have described Mercy Johnson as a down to earth person, cheerful and cool-headed to work with. Sources claim it's the reason MJ as Mercy is famously addressed is of a very high demand in movies in the past few years, especially now that Nollywood is shifting base to Asaba in Delta State, Nigeria.
Mercy Johnson, married to Odianose Okojie, blessed with a beautiful baby, Purity has countless of movies to her credit and has won to herself, too numerous fans within a short period of time.
*Abeg no be me write am, na copy I copy am oo.. According to 'Hitz'*
Speaking to the Press Association's Simon Stone, Moyes gave an insight into topics such as his journey to the pinnacle of his sport, how he plans to make the most of the bigger resources available to him - after impressing while working on a limited budget during 11 years at Everton - and the future of British coaches.
Moyes on his struggles through the ranks
"By the World Cup in France, I had only just been appointed manager at Preston. I had to ask the Professional Footballers' Association to fund me because I wanted to go to the World Cup to study.
"I wrote to all of the countries to ask if I could go and watch training.
"The only country who replied and said yes was Craig Brown with Scotland - and I was Scottish and had already been at all their courses.
"I had some tickets for some games, but not enough. But I hired a small car. I was given some funding by the PFA. I wasn't earning enough.
"In the end I drove round and had to sleep in the car a few nights. That is the kind of thing I did to try to find some more knowledge."
Moyes on the boost for British managers
"I think hopefully it will inspire more coaches in our country to think there is a route through to one of the big clubs.
"It has been very difficult in recent seasons for a British coach to get close to one of the big jobs.
"But I also had to earn my time.
"I coached and managed in the Premier League for 11 years at Everton.
"I was promoted through the divisions in the lower leagues with Preston. I had to earn my stripes to get myself to this level."
Moyes on competing in the transfer market
"Ideally, you would get your signings done early. It is better if you can do that.
"But for different reasons, it has not been possible to get them done. But I am confident we will get them done.
"Manchester United are more than happy to compete with all of the teams. There has been a change in the dynamic because of Paris St-Germain coming on the scene recently. That has altered things. But Manchester United will always compete.
"One thing it has got is the history. It has got the name. It has got the success.
"Players do want to be connected to that and one day say they have played for Manchester United. That is a big pull for any player."
Moyes on the influence of foreign managers
"The people we have introduced to the Premier League have been great. Arsene Wenger has been great for Arsenal.
Analysis
"Rafael Benitez had a really successful spell at Liverpool and did well at Chelsea in his short spell. Jose Mourinho has been great in the work he did at Chelsea and what he has done everywhere else since.
"We have had some really top foreign coaches in the country which we all benefit from; our players, our coaches over here because we get to see them and how they work and the things they do.
"I don't think we should say we are not having them (overseas coaches), because they are good.
"It would be great if we could export more British coaches to other countries, say for example Portugal, Spain or Germany. That would be great for our development of coaches."
Moyes made a memorable impression on ex-Chelsea manager Ancelotti
"When I was younger I went to see AC Milan train. I stood at the side watching training at AC Milan and I never thought anything of it.
"Wind forward and the day Carlo Ancelotti got sacked we beat Chelsea at Goodison (in 2011). Carlo was in the corridor.
"I saw him and stood and talked to him.
"He said: 'I have lost my job and David, I am going to come and watch you training now.' It showed me even he had recognised I had been at training at AC Milan at that time.
"I took what he said as a big compliment.
Ferguson gave me Man Utd job - Moyes
"I think my style has evolved. Certainly my management style, in the way you handle players now compared to 15 years ago, has changed.
"It changes by the level of player you have.
"But your coaching style and how you work is continually evolving. You change with the level of player you have, you change with the standard. You change with the quality.
"It means you have to think differently about the work you are giving players in the sessions you are giving them.
"Hopefully that would be the way I would continually try to self-improve."
The investigative reporter for Huntsville, Alabama's ABC affiliate wrote a blog post last week, originally entitled "Confessions of a Red Headed Reporter," containing 10 confessional bullet-points on her looks, her TV career, and her beliefs.
Full list below:
1. I've gone bra-less during a live broadcast and no one was the wiser.
2. My best sources are the ones who secretly have a crush on me.
3. I am better live when I have no script and no idea what I'm talking about.
4. I've mastered the ability to contort my body into a position that makes me appear much skinner [sic] in front of the camera than I actually am.
5. I hate the right side of my face.
6. I'm frightened of old people and I refuse to do stories involving them or the places they reside.
7. Happy, fluffy, rainbow stories about good things make me depressed.
8. I've taken naps in the news car.
9. If you ramble and I deem you unnecessary for my story, I'll stop recording but let you think otherwise.
10. I've stolen mail and then put it back. (maybe)
Some of the above admissions may have initially struck her fan-base/employer as too revealing, and so she reportedly pulled the post for a short time.
But after some thought, Allen later wrote, she decided to keep the post up, re-titling it: "No Apologies: Confessions of a red headed reporter." All 10 points remain, but she added a preface:
This post was taken down because I was momentarily misguided about who I am and what I stand for. To clarify, I make no apologies for the following re-post. It's funny, satirical and will likely offend some of the more conservative folks. But it isn't fake and its a genuine look into my slightly twisted psyche.
Here's the thing, I've vowed to always fight for the right of free expression. It's allowed, no matter what the profession. I pride myself in having earned the respect of many because I make no apologies for the truth and hold nothing back. I don't fight for things because they serve me, I fight for them because they are right. Sources trust me because I am an unadulterated version of the truth. I won't ever bend just because its popular to do so and I'm not bending now.
As anyone who has worked in the broadcast news business will tell you, many of Allen's confessions are actually quite common:
Number 2 reflects the unavoidable issue of getting better information from those who want something from you; Numbers 4 and 5 demonstrate the intense pressures female broadcasters feel in maintaining a youthful look; Number 7 makes sense, given the general consensus that happy stories rarely rate as well as dark ones; and Number 9 is absolutely true, and more man-on-the-street subjects should read this before rambling endlessly into the camera next time.
As for numbers 1 and 10? Eh, not so sure.
But kudos to Shea Allen for saying what was on her mind. Candor is a lacking trait among many aspiring TV journalists.
Aboard the papal aircraft,he reached out to gays on Monday, saying he wouldn't judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returned from his first foreign trip.
"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Pope Francis asked.
His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.
He was funny and candid during a news conference that lasted almost an hour and a half. He didn't dodge a single question, even thanking the journalist who raised allegations reported by an Italian newsmagazine that one of his trusted monsignors was involved in a scandalous gay tryst.
Francis said he investigated and found nothing to back up the allegations.
Francis was asked about Italian media reports suggesting that a group within the church tried to blackmail fellow church officials with evidence of their homosexual activities. Italian media reported this year that the allegations contributed to Benedict's decision to resign
While stressing Catholic social teaching that calls for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized, Francis said it was something else entirely to conspire to use private information for blackmail or to exert pressure.
Francis was responding to reports that a trusted aide was involved in an alleged gay tryst a decade ago. He said he investigated the allegations according to canon law and found nothing to back them up. But he took journalists to task for reporting on the matter, saying the allegations concerned matters of sin, not crimes like sexually abusing children.
And when someone sins and confesses, he said, God not only forgives but forgets.
"We don't have the right to not forget," he said.
Source: AP.
Benitez, who was rumoured to be a summer transfer target for Tottenham, signed a three-year contract with Al Jaish earlier this month after leaving Mexican side Club America in a deal worth around £10m.
An Ecuador Football Federation statement read: "The FEF regrets to inform you of the death of Christian Benitez, the striker of Qatar club Al Jaish and the Ecuador national team.
"Benitez, who was with his new club in Qatar, had a severe stomach pain, which was why he was rushed to a hospital, where after a few hours suffered he suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest, which ended his life.
"The Ecuadorian Football Federation extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family - parents, wife, children - and friends of our striker Christian Benitez. May he rest in peace."
An earlier statement released by Al Jaish said: "The club would like to offer its sincere condolences to the family of the player.
"The player participated for the first time with the team during Sunday's match against Qatar Sports Club in the Sheikh Jassem Cup without complaining of any health problems.
"His sudden departure is a big shock for each member of the technical and administrative staff. He was a player that over the short period he was here was regarded for his high moral character."
"The club would like to offer its sincere condolences to the family of the player."
Club statement
Benitez, popularly known as Chucho, joined Birmingham on loan from Santos Laguna in 2009 and scored four goals in 36 appearances.
"Birmingham City Football Club is saddened to learn of the passing of former striker Christian 'Chucho' Benitez," read a statement on the Championship club's website.
"The thoughts of all associated with the football club are with Chucho's family and friends at this very sad time. Chucho's passing will now be marked at St Andrew's ahead of Saturday's fixture against Watford.
"The Ecuador international was an immensely-popular character during his time at the football club."
Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner, who played with Benitez at Birmingham, was one of the first to pay tribute on his Twitter account.
He wrote: "Can't believe Christian Benitez aka chucho has died had the pleasure to play with him he was a top bloke. My thoughts go out to his family."
Benitez scored 52 goals in 79 appearances over the last two seasons, and he was also a regular for the Ecuador national team, earning 58 caps and scoring 24 goals and featuring against Germany in the 2006 World Cup.
This announcement was made due to their susceptibility to the deadly Coronavirus ravaging Saudi Arabia and parts of the Middle East and Asia,as they were highly at risk if they embark on the journey to Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, at an emergency news conference at the weekend advised Nigerians travelling to Saudi Arabia, ensure they take precautionary measures in order not to contract the disease.
Idris stated that pregnant women and others who had already paid for the hajj should have their money refunded to them so that they could stay back home.
The commissioner added that Coronavirus had not been found in any state in Nigeria yet, saying Nigerian pilgrims were asked to take precautionary measures since the virus has been found in Asia, particularly in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Idris likened the new virus to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, that ravaged the world some years back, urging the vulnerable group not to embark on the lesser Haji or the full hajj, and reiterated his earlier call on the people to observe a high standard of personal and environmental hygiene in order to reduce the risk of infection.
He called on the people to suspect Coronavirus in people that develop acute respiratory illnesses with a history of recent travel to areas where the virus has been reported and not responding to appropriate treatment for the listed complaints or a close contact of a symptomatic traveller to areas where the virus has been reported.
The commissioner added that though the World Health Organisation, WHO, was not restricting movement to the affected countries, as it is still studying the virus with a view to unraveling its nature and how best to deal with it, it became necessary for the state to feel concerned because of the large number of people who usually attend the pilgrimage from the state, especially since the virus spreads speedily.
He said the Saudi Arabian authorities had also tried to put some measures in place to avoid its spread by advising vulnerable people such as the elderly, pregnant women, children and people with chronic lung infections as well as stroke not to embark on the pilgrimage.
Coronavirus spread has not been extensively studied by health experts but it has been confirmed that it could be transmitted easily from one person to another through coughing and sneezing, close contact such as touching or shaking the hands of an infected person, and touching one's mouth, nose or eyes after touching contaminated objects or surfaces.
Human Coronavirus usually causes mild to moderate upper respiratory tract illnesses and could progress to severe respiratory illness and pneumonia particularly in the aged, young and already ill people, while its symptoms include running nose, sore throat, shortness of breath and fever.
Health experts say there is no specific treatment for illnesses caused by Coronavirus. Most people with Coronavirus will recover on their own and they may require supportive treatment which includes staying at home, resting and drinking a lot of fluids.
However, those that progressed to severe distress will need to be admitted into the hospital for specialised care. Overall, 90 people in the Middle East have contracted the virus, with 45 of them already dead. Of the 90 people infected with the virus, 70 of them are in Saudi Arabia and 38 of them have died.
With over 70,000 Nigerians intending to travel to Saudi Arabia for this year's hajj and Umrah, there are fears that many of them could contract the disease, which is highly communicable.
Idris also urged all those who would be going on the pilgrimage to also get vaccinated against viruses like Meningitis because it is a virus that thrives where many people mingle, saying this explained why the Saudi authorities were insistent on would-be pilgrims taking the vaccine.
The state Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, gave the warning while speaking with newsmen shortly after monitoring the monthly sanitation exercise in Egbe-Idimu area of the state.
He said spreading of washed clothes on fences and frontage of buildings was becoming the norm in some parts of the state.
According to him, the practice constitutes a nuisance to the environment.
The commissioner also warned residents, who wash and spread their clothes on bridge railings on major roads to desist from such act, saying tough actions would be taken against erring persons.
"We are telling residents who wash and spread clothes on the streets, major highways and other places outside their homes to desist from the practice as it constitutes a great environmental nuisance.
"This is not good for our people and our state. We have directed the officials of the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) to pack those clothes as refuse wherever they see them.
"We will not hesitate to seal up buildings or houses outside of which compounds residents hang their clothes indiscriminately," Bello said.
He also urged the residents to create spaces within the confines of their homes to spread their clothes rather than doing so in places "not friendly to the environment.''
The commissioner said that major roads and bridges were not the right places for the spreading of clothes, adding that those indulging in such practice were risking their lives.
Bello had earlier decried the erection of structures on flood plains and pipelines by residents of Egbe-Idimu.
He said that the situation was a major source of flooding and other disasters.
The commissioner urged the residents to remove such offending structures to ensure their safety.
He also said the state government would demolish the Orisumbare Cattle Market in the area and relocate the traders because it was erected on a drainage channel.
The commissioner urged those affected to show understanding on the government's plan, saying that relocation of the market was to pave way for the planned drainage development project in the area.
The market leader, Mr Musibau Jolaosho, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the state government's planned relocation of the market came as surprise to the traders.
He said that the market, which had the state government's approval, had been in existence for over 20 years, serving other 36 markets in Alimosho Local Government area with beef.
"This place is actually one of the six approved abattoirs in the state. We are worried about the government's plan, especially as we are about improving things in the market.
"But, if the state government still wants to carry out its plan, we can't fight the government.
"But, we appeal that the government should immediately provide another place for us so that we can go on with our lives,'' he said.
Sources in the community told 247ureports.com that the late Mathias, 45, had returned home from his Onitsha base to attend the priestly ordination of his kinsman, Rev. Fr. Anayochukwu Onuoha, held at Mater Dei Cathedral, Umuahia, Abia State Saturday June 20 2013.
It was learnt that all through the ordination ceremony, Mathias and the late Angela were literally tied to each other, with the latter taking the front seat of the former's jeep.
Their entanglement was said to have continued the next day, Sunday, during the ceremony marking the first Holy and Thanksgiving Mass at Holy Ghost Parish, Umuevu Okirika-Nweke.
The deceased were also seen together at the ordination reception and later at the compound of the new priest where they were dancing to the music coming from Mathias' car's loudspeakers, while he occasionally was shooting gunshots from his pump action gun as Angela fed him with cartridges.
Interestingly, the deceased cousins were among family members who received prayers from the new priest, who earlier enjoined the people of the community to shun hypocrisy, atrocities and other iniquities if they must avoid God's anger.
The late Mathias who was said to have been married for 13 years without any child, however, returned home with a young girl as his fiancée who he left in the house.
It was gathered that while the fiancée was home watching videos and waiting for Mathias, he only returned around 11pm and told her to go to sleep while he collected torchlight to see Angela off to her house.
But that was not to be as the duo diverted to Mathias' semi-completed building.
Worried by her daughter's non arrival to the house, Angela's mother called her phone line but Mathias was said to have answered the phone telling the woman that her daughter was with him.
Also, alarmed by Mathias' absence in the house up till Monday morning, his fiancée began to look for him within the house and was shocked to have stumbled on the naked but entangled bodies locked in death.
She immediately alerted Mathias' family members who could not believe their eyes. Also, Angela's mother who was returning from Morning mass was simply speechless at the sight of the deceased.
The lady who was on top of the man had her blouse on but naked from the waist region while the man had his singlet on his neck. The two were dead.
Their bodies were removed and deposited at Holy Rosary Hospital, Ogbor Nguru in Aboh Mbaise LGA.
When contacted, the state police public relations officer (PPRO), Mrs Joy Elemoko, promised to call back to inform our reporter about the outcome of police investigation.
Veteran Nollywood actor Bob-Manuel Udokwu is not a happy man at this moment. The actor lost his mother, Joy Ezelagbo Udokwu, last Saturday.
Udokwu, was in a state of euphoria recently when the governor of Anambra State made him his Special Adviser on Creative Media and shortly after, a South African company made him the brand ambassador of Don Morris wines.
But Udokwu confirmed that his mum died in her sleep last Saturday.
The Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, who was drafted to intervene in the face-off between the government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), told newsmen that there were still outstanding issues to be resolved next week for ASUU to call off the strike.
The two knotty issues according to him, are earned allowance and funding of university education in view of the infrastructure deficit in the system.
He added that all other issues raised by ASUU had been agreed on apart from the two issues pending.
Suswam, however, disclosed that while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, would meet with ASUU leadership on Monday to resolve the issue of the earned allowance, he and members of implementation committee on Needs Assessment Committee would also meet with ASUU next Thursday to finalise issues on funding.
The governor expressed optimism that all the pending issues would be resolved next week for the union to call off the strike.
He admitted the decay and rot in universities, stressing that his committee would ensure that there was sustained funding of universities in Nigeria.
Earlier in his opening remark at the meeting, Senator Anyim expressed determination of the Federal Government to ensure that the issues were resolved for the lecturers to return to classroom.
He said: "Our meeting today is blessed with injection of new hands, new faces and new minds. It is expected that our meeting today will be fruitful because we would have more hands helping us to resolve what is outstanding.
"You might also recall that the implementation committee of Needs Assessment Report to Nigerian universities was just inaugurated. The chairman of that committee is Governor Gabriel Suswam. After the inauguration of that committee, we appealed to him to join us in this meeting that is following soon after.
"On this note, I am convinced that their desire to see this matter resolved is simply because of their commitment to national progress," Anyim said.
He added that the Needs assessment was undertaken based on the desire to revitalise university education in Nigeria.
Implementation of the Needs Assessment report is one of the key demands of ASUU that led to the three-week-old strike that has paralysed academic activities in universities across the nation.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation inaugurated the committee headed by Governor Suswam.
He noted that the committee was set up in line with the agreement with both the academic and non-academic staff union of universities as part of efforts to revitalise the nation's universities.
Anyim charged the committee members to interface with all agencies providing funding support to universities with the aim of appropriately channelling support to identified priorities.
It gathered that the alleged murderer who hails from Abusoro area in Akure, Ondo State, has since been arrested and is presently being detained at the Ala divisional police station.
Eye witness accounts say the suspect has been having a running battle with his deceased wife for over two years shortly after the woman gave birth to their fourth daughter.
Sources say trouble began a month ago before the brutal murder when the husband complained aloud that his deceased wife is incapable of bearing him a male child and the incident led to a fierce altercation between the couple.
Shocked neighbours expressed disbelief at the death of mama Feyi when one of their next door neighbour, Mr. Isijola, said he was awakened by loud arguments coming from their room very early in the morning.
"I ignored them as it is a norm for them to always argue and have altercations. I decided to ignore them at first but when the noise was getting unbearable, I stepped into their room only to find the lifeless body of the woman on the floor, lying in the pool of her blood. I saw the man holding a knife and he threatened to stab me if I don't leave.
Isijola continued, "It was when I discovered that he may abscond that I alerted the police who immediately came to arrest him."
Narrating the incident, daughter of the deceased, Feyisara, said:
"It all started on Sunday after my mummy had cooked rice. She asked me to go and collect money from my father to prepare stew and on getting to him, he started shouting. But he later gave me N500 which my mum refused to collect. They both argued and had a fight. I had to make a distress call to neighbours to settle the dispute".
She continued on the fight that eventually led to her mom's death:
"the quarrel started at about 6am when my mum asked him to give her some money for her ante-natal but he refused. They started fighting and before we knew it, daddy brought out a knife and stabbed mummy to death."
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the prices of some staple foods had recorded over100 per cent increase in recent times.
For instance, the price of a bunch of banana, had increased from N800 before the commencement of the Ramadan fasting to N1,500 in most markets in Lagos, representing an increase of 87.5 per cent, while 12 pieces of orange, which sold for N700 a month ago, is now selling for N1,200, representing 71 per cent.
A visit to the Mile 12 Market showed that a carton of apple, which consists of 200 pieces, which sold for N8,000 before the Ramadan, now sells for N10,000, while the same quantity of water melon, which was selling for N1,200 about three weeks ago, is now selling for N2,000.
It was gathered that a sack of lime, which formerly sold for N1,000, was now being sold for N2,000, representing an increase of 100 per cent.
The price of pawpaw also recorded an increase of 100 per cent as a dozen of the fruit, which sold for N1,000 a month ago, had risen to N2,000. The price of a dozen golden melon also rose by 233 per cent to N4,000 from N1,200 in the same period.
Food prices have also recorded significant price increases. For instance, a bag of rice rose from N9,800 before the fasting period to N11,000 presently, while a bag of beans now sells for N26,000 compared to the N20,000 it sold for three weeks ago.
Traders at the Mile 12 Market told our correspondent that the Ramadan was majorly responsible for the recent surge in the prices of fruits and other food items.
A trader, who identified herself as Mrs. Tawa Adeolu, said, "There is nothing we can do about it. We have to increase the prices we sell to retailers because the prices we buy from the distributors have been increasing too.
"We all know that during Ramadan, the prices of fruits go up because the farmers know that this is the time to make good profits."
A pepper seller at the Adaranijo Market, Pedro, Lagos, Alhaji Tanko Mohammed, said it was becoming increasingly hard to get some food items from the North to the South West.
He said, "Our people face problems getting their goods from the North to this side. They encounter problems from even policemen who are supposed to be protecting us.
"The Ramadan too is responsible for the price increase because of high demand."
Customers, however, complained that the prices were too high, saying that some of the increases were unnecessary.
A shopper at the Oke Arin Market, Lagos Island, who simply identified herself as Chinwe, said, "We know that food prices go up during this period, but some of the increases are uncalled for. The sellers are capitalising on this period thereby, making excessive profits."
Report by Punch Metro