Olanrewaju Lawal,Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi Secretary of the Onion Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Kebbi State chapter, Alhaji Aminu Usman, has disclosed that three members of the association and N1.2 billion worth of properties were lost to EndSARS protest in Abia State.
Usman, who stated this on Monday while speaking with newsmen in Birnin Kebbi said,”we had lost lives and properties both on ground and on the roads in Abia State.
“It was unfortunate when the incident happened, the security agents were not many on ground due to the unexpected circumstance surrounding the incident.
“After the assessment now, we have now confirmed that we had lost 42 trailers loaded with uncountable bags of onion and 32 private and commercial vehicles to arsonists and the violence incidents, and which after compiling our assessment was worth over 1.2 billion.”
He lamented that, without the compensation and intervention from both the state and Federal Government, over 200,000 jobbers would be jobless in the state.
“We are not relying on the governments to offer us jobs; instead, we help the governments in reducing the teeming unemployed youths in the state.
“In Kebbi alone, we have provided job opportunities for over 200,000 unemployed youths, ranging from producing onion seeds, marketing the seeds, planting the seeds, farming the onion, cultivating the onion to conveying the onion to different parts of the country, among other onion production processes,” he said.
Usman also recalled that the members of the association recently lost over N2 billion to the 2020 flood disaster in the state, adding that the violence that trailed #EndSARS added more injuries to the farmers and marketers in the state.
“The governments should, please, look into the plight of those victims who have lost their means of livelihood and opportunities.
“Our economy is destroyed now, and we want to embark on serious dry season farming but how can we do that when we have no capital to start off afresh now?