From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan and Benjamin Babine, Abuja
Following warnings from the Defence Headquarters against stopping food transportation, the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) has been summoned by officials of Department of State Service (DSS) for questioning.
General Secretary of the AUFCDN, Ahmed Alaramma, who disclosed this at a press briefing said the union’s President, Mohammed Tahir, was being questioned by the DSS.
Alaramma claimed the military have been intimidating their members, saying there may be chaos if government does not stop the intimidation. He disclose that so far, the Federal Government has not invited them for any negotiations. The union vowed to continue its blockade of foodstuff and cattle from moving to the southern part of the county, claiming that it has seen 90 percent compliance from its members saying only a few ‘bad eggs’ who flount the order were being forcefully stopped by the task force.
They again made clear their demands that government pay them N475 billion as compensation for lives and property of their members lost during the #EndSARS protest and Shasa market crisis.
Meanwhile, residents of Ibadan are groaning over shortage of beef that hit the city in the past two days, as well as sharp drop in the number of cows being slaughtered daily at Ibadan Central Abattoir from 500 to 150.
A visit to the Ibadan Central Abattoir at Amosun Village, Akinyele Local Government Area, revealed that cows were not being transported from the north the way it was before the current waves of prohibition of open grazing of cows, especially in some states in the South West.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that before the sharp drop in the number of cows coming to the abattoir, at least 500 cows were being slaughtered on daily basis in the abattoir. But these days, however, only 150 cows are being slaughtered and the number may continue to drop.
Investigation also revealed that the selling price of a cow has increased by 100 per cent. A cow that was being sold for N150,000 before is now N300,000, while the one being sold for N250,000 earlier has gone up to between N500,000 and N600,000.
According to some of the market leaders, goats, rams, and sheep were no longer being transported to Ibadan. They added that all the goats and rams they had in stock had all either been sold or slaughtered and their meat sold to members of the public.
One of the leaders of the Fulani/Hausa community in the central abattoir, who introduced himself as Lukman Gindo, said the scarcity of cows, rams, goats and sheep in the market, was consequent upon the directives from the national body of the cattle dealers.
A Yoruba butcher, who also introduced himself as Sikiru Adeolu, said: “This is what we have been saying. The Yoruba too should begin to invest massively in cattle rearing. We don’t know how long this we take but there is wisdom in it for southerners. We should go back to farming. Some of our people should have gone back to farming but for herdsmen that have been destroying our farmland. I believe the South West will come out of it stronger. Though it is hard for me as a beef seller to bear at the moment, I can still relate with the future and the picture I want to see.”