The Nigerian Government is making efforts to contain the spread of “Tuta Absoluta” the disease that experts identified to have affected tomato farms leading to scarcity of the product in the nation, authorities have said.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, assured Nigerians that the government was working with a team of experts from the United Kingdom who will deliver specialised insecticides for the control of the disease.

According to him, the disease also known as Tomato Ebola has affected six tomato producing states, including Plateau, Jigawa, Kano and Katsina.

He said Tuta Absoluta had high resistant to the commonly used insecticides and had the capacity of spreading to other crops like pepper and Irish potatoes.

For over a month now the price of tomatoes has gone up due to scarcity of the product, with less than seven seeds selling for N500, the highest price of the commodity in history.

Many families are depending largely on tinned tomatoes which people fear the price may begin to rise soon.

•Text courtesy of Channels TV. Photo shows Agric Minister Audu Ogbeh.