Traders in Maraba, the designated park for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members heading to the Yipata Orientation camp in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, have turned the opportunity to make brisk business.
A visit to the facility by our correspondent revealed that many of the shop owners in the park have temporarily divested into selling plastic buckets, bowls, spong cases and other materials in high demand by the corp members before embarking on the over two hours journey.
A regular visitor to the park instantly noticed the vendors who gathered at the first gate in their numbers trying to ‘exploit’ the travelers posted to the state from different parts of the country.
One of the traders whose parents own a shop at the park, Fatimah Abdulsalam told Daily Trust that they had to take advantage of the period to augment sale which has dropped recently.
On his part, 12-year old Mohammed said he was using the period to assist his parents before they fully commence school activities after the holiday period.
Daily Trust findings revealed that prices for the items have been increased by over 100 percent.
A large plastic bucket that cost around N1,200 is sold for N2,500 while the smaller one hitherto N1,000 is now N2,000. Soap/case and plastic bowl goes for N500 each.
Asked why the increment and ‘extortion’, one of them said “We try to make the best use of this opportunity but we sell normal prices to others as well. It depends on how you can bargain.”
