By Bilkisu M. Usman & Halima Aliyu Omaku

An Islamic Scholar, Mallam Muhammad Sarki has said that hoarding of food stuff was a major cause for the high price of food items in Nigerian markets.

Mallam Sarki who is also a teacher with As-shiek Islamic school Lafia, stated this in an interview with Nigerian Newsday in Lafia recently.

He noted that hoarding of food items has contributed to the suffering of Nigerians, "because it always created artificial shortage of food in the markets".

He stated "It is dangerous to hoard food because it leads to unnecessary suffering".

Mallam Sarki noted that in the last three years, both the rich and the less privileged could afford the price of rice but that today it was not so "because not everybody can afford rice and other food items due to their high prices".

He said, in order to reduce suffering in the society, people needed to be educated on the need to stop hoarding food items.

He then called on the federal government to fix prices of every food items sold in the market and ensure that the official prices were completed with.

Mallam Sarki alsoadvised the government to set a task force that would monitor the supply and distribution of food items in order to ensure their availability to Nigerians at the fixed prizes.