The Nigerian federal government is prosecuting supermarket chains and pharmacies on charges of price gouging, related to price increases for key hygiene products such as hand sanitizer and face masks. The chains in question are Prince Ebeano, H-Medix Pharmacy and Stores, FAXX Stores and Bakan Gizo Pharmacy.

The companies have been charged by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) for taking undue advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to inflate prices of key hygiene products contrary to Section 108(1) of FCCP Act 2018.

In one of the charges, the commission said retailers were “engaged in making false, misleading, deceptive representation in relation to the price of sanitizers, hand-wash liquids, and disinfectants of various existing brands at ‘your’ retail outlet and thereby committed an offense contrary to section 125 (1) (a) of the FCCPC Act, 2018”. Abuja-based chain H-Medix, was singled out for “exploiting the national public health emergency of COVID-19 pandemic to engage in price gouging”.

The FCCPC had warned retailers in March it would clamp down on price gouging as stocks of hygiene products ran out under intense demand. The case is set to be heard on June 25th.