Nigeria hit with critical tomato shortage

A state of emergency has been declared in the tomato sector in Kaduna state, northern Nigeria, local media report.

A moth called the Tomato Leaf Miner, or Tuta Absoluta, has ravaged 80% of tomato farms, Commissioner of Agriculture Daniel Manzo Maigar said.

He said 200 farmers together lost at least 1bn naira ($5.1m; Ј3.5m) over the past month.

The price of a basket of tomatoes has increased from $1.20 less than three months ago to more than $40 today.

In Nigeria, officials declare a state of emergency to indicate they are taking drastic action to deal with a problem, the BBC's Muhammad Kabir Muhammad says.

In this case the state sent government agricultural officials to Kenya to meet experts on the Tomato Leaf Miner to learn how to deal with the pest.

Kaduna is in the north of the country, where according to the UN most tomato production takes place,

A tomato paste manufacturing business in northern Kano state owned by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, suspended production earlier in the month due to the lack of tomatoes, reports Forbes.

Tomatoes are a basic part of most Nigerians' diets and the word tomato has trended on Twitter as people discuss the rising price.

One of the memes being shared is a tongue-in-cheek look at Nigerian pain over discovering the annual festival in Spain where people throw tomatoes at each other.

BBC

Oil marketers set to flood Nigerian market with petrol

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says it is ready to flood the market with fuel as it has gotten credit line from outside investors to access foreign exchange to import petroleum products into the country.

Alhaji Danladi Pasali, IPMAN National Secretary, disclosed this in an interview on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said that IPMAN was willing to continue to work with government to ensure availability of products in the country.

“We have foreign investors that we work with; they gave us a credit line that enables us to get our products and import to the country.

“Right now, we have many cargoes that will enter the country under IPMAN, so we have a good arrangement with our partners,’’ he said.

According to him, in a couple of days, about 10 cargoes will arrive in the port.

He said that government had done well to open up the market and called on others to look for various avenues to get forex to import products.

He said that sourcing forex from the parallel market in Nigeria might not be the best option but what affected that price was where one got the product.

He said that complete deregulation of the sector would go a long way to ensure efficiency and competition in the system.

Meanwhile, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DPPMAN) had on Friday called on government to assist in making Forex available for importation of petroleum products

The president of the association, Mr Dapo Abiodun, said members were currently having a tough time converting some of the Naira payments made by the government to dollars.

He said their inability to convert the payments from the Federal Government from Naira to dollar was making it difficult for them to meet their obligations to their foreign partners.

PM News

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Boko Haram drugged woman for suicide bomb attack

A Nigerian woman has described being kidnapped and drugged by suspected Boko Haram jihadists who planned to use her as a suicide bomber at a market.

Khadija Ibrahim, 30, told reporters she had been waiting for a bus to hospital in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri when she was seized by two men in a car who had offered her a lift.

While drugged, the mother of three was stripped and a suicide belt attached, she is quoted as saying.

She managed to flee her abductors.

Ms Ibrahim said after getting into the car, she fell unconscious when something was placed over her nose.

But she woke up, apparently without her captors realising, to hear one of them whispering to her that she was "going to do God's work".

The kidnappers told her she was being taken to the city of Kano to attack the Kantin Kwari textile market.

But when the car engine overheated, both kidnappers were distracted - one was examining the engine while the other went to look for water.

Ms Ibrahim then managed to flee and a man in the Hotoro neighbourhood of Kano took her to the police.

She was also brought before the Kano state governor, Umar Ganduje, who told the media: "If this woman had not regained consciousness the story would have been different by now."

The woman is now in "safe custody....undergoing post-traumatic rehabilitation," Kano police spokesman Magaji Musa Majiya told the BBC's Hausa service.

Police are trying to track down the vehicle in an attempt to find a second kidnapped girl, thought to be about 15 years old, he added.

The other woman in the car with her may also have been drugged, Ms Ibrahim suggested.

Boko Haram has staged numerous attacks using young women in the past year.

BBC

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