Some residents of Awka, the Anambra State capital, have lamented the introduction of stamp duty charges on basic consumables, especially bread, by some supermarkets.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some departmental stores in Awka, which also double as bakers, place a charge of N50 on every purchase of N1,000 and above.

While a regular size of bread sells for an average of N1,700 at the supermarket, the price in the streets goes for an average of N2,000.

But some residents, who spoke to NAN, stated that charging stamp duty on bread, a basic food item, was not acceptable in the face of the prevailing economic situation.

Mr Godfrey Ezeumeh, who bought at a popular supermarket in the Kwara area, expressed surprise at the levy of N50.

Ezeumeh said instead of the government forcing supermarkets to collect N50 on bread from members of the public, it should rather subsidise the commodity to enable more people to afford it.

He said it was unacceptable that after paying between N1,600 and N1,800 for a loaf of bread, the customer was still forced to part with additional N50.

A woman, who identified herself simply as Madam Gloria, said there were outlets which did not charge stamp duty.

She said it should be a matter of policy that customers who bought bread and other consumable items like snacks were not charged stamp duty.