The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle dealers of Nigeria has decided to end its strike and resume the transportation of their products to the Southern part of the country.
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello revealed this in an interview with State House Correspondents on Wednesday.
The Governor, who was in the State House to present the demands of the union to President Muhammadu Buhari, said he has already gotten strong commitments from all the parties involved in the face-off to sheath their sword.
Bello said working with former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, he has been able to reach out to the major stakeholders on both sides insisting on the need for peace to reign.
He said: “In order for us not to continue to have this hardship across the country, I’ve gotten the commitment of the union to lift the ban on transportation of food and livestock transportation to the south.
“I’ve equally gotten the commitment of the major actors from the south not to attack lawful Hausa/Fulani people or the traders in the south and that the criminals among them irrespective of tribe and religion should be handed over to law enforcement agents and I’ve also gotten the commitment that their lives and properties will be protected also. So, these are the messages we brought to the chief of staff to convey to the President.”
The Governor said he was directed to intervene to restore normalcy across the country, adding that the union of foodstuff dealers has however placed some demands at the doorstep of government.
He said: “On this note, we have brought the demands to Mr President, through the Chief of Staff and how we’ve been able to resolve the matter. The Chief of Staff is going to convey the message to Mr President.
“The association demanded that its members were killed, they are requiring that compensation be paid for the lives and livelihood that were destroyed in the South.
“All those who committed those crimes should be brought to justice, the harassment by law enforcement agencies on our federal highways be stopped, the extortion by all touts along federal highways, especially from northeast or from the north to south-south and southeast, particularly, be stopped.
“We’ve presented those demands to the government because before now, they have reached out to every authority in the land and there seemed to be no positive response to the demand.”
Timely Intervention
Also speaking, Fani-Kayode said but for the timely intervention, the crisis which he described as a very complicated issue, would have snowballed into a major crisis in the country.
He described the intervention led by Bello and his team as “more or less like a miracle” as they acted within 72 hours which led to a positive resolution.
“And that is extremely impressive. And I believe that by this intervention in national issues if we have this sort of strong leadership across party lines across party lines, our country would be a much better place in the future,” he said.
Also commenting, the President of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria, Mohammed Tahir affirmed that they have agreed to call off the strike and resume the supply of their products to the South but will watch and see how the government addresses their demands.
It is expected that this intervention would help address the scarcity and the rising cost of foodstuff and meat in the affected parts of the country.
Zainab Sa’id
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