Retailers of frozen foods, on Thursday, hit the streets of the twin towns of Warri and Effurun in Delta State with protest over the high cost of frozen foods.
Armed with green leaves and placards amid chants of solidarity songs, the women protesters marched to some of the leading wholesalers of frozen foods in Warri South and Uvwie local government areas.
One of the leaders of the protesters, Mrs Onoriode Onokpite, explained to journalists that the prices of frozen foods were beyond the reach of customers nowadays.
According to her, the rising costs had adversely affected their business, culminating in low patronage.
“Customers are no longer patronizing us as they used to. It is suffocating us. Most of us are breadwinners of our families.
“We decided to take our protest to the retailers of frozen foods so that they can reduce prices of frozen foods for us.
“Government should wade into the matter. We are dying,” she lamented.
A spokesperson of Ocean Lord Frozen Foods Company, one of the frozen foods firms, Solomon Ogheneovo, said. However, the protesters had the right to express their misgivings; they should rather forward their grouse to the government, whose policies had affected Forex.
He said the increase in the cost of frozen foods was caused by the increase in the exchange of the naira for a dollar.
He argued that if the exchange rate of the naira to a dollar were low, the retail price of frozen foods would equally be low, adding that his firm bought its products with forex.
“So they (protesters) should direct their protest to the government and not the wholesalers of frozen foods,” he averred while accusing the protesters of bias in their protest.
“This amounts to hatred in business. There are other retailers of frozen foods in all over the place., why picking only on us,” he queried.
Meanwhile, the protesters were seen leaving Ocean Lord Frozen Foods Company for other retailers of frozen foods in Warri South and Uvwie in continuation of the protest.
. TheWitness
