Food Supplies interrupted

Food supplies to Lagos from the north have been interrupted in the wake of communal clashes last week, which caused extensive damage to food depots at the Mile 12 market in the Ketu district of the city. "Traders trying to bring produce to warehouses at Mile12 on Saturday were turned back by the police and told that the market was closed until further notice," a news source in Lagos told IRIN. Many food trucks are now stopping in Ibadan, some 100 km north of Lagos, which increases the cost of trucking supplies to Lagos, the source added. The Mile 12 market serves as a drop-off point for a variety of foodstuffs brought to Lagos from northern Nigeria including the staple cowpeas, yams, sheep, vegetables and dried fish from Lake Chad. The news source said cost of food items has risen substantially in most local markets following the rupture in supplies. Before this, tomatoes cost 20 naira (about 21 US cents) for half a kilo, the source said, now they cost at least 100 naira ($1)