Northern traders agree to lift blockade on food supply to south

Northern traders have agreed to resume the supply of food items to southern states and end the blockade that began on February 25.

TheCable gathered that traders resolved to call off the blockade on Wednesday.

The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) had embarked on the blockade in protest of the alleged killing of its members, among other issues.

The union had also demanded payment of N475 billion compensation for the lives of members and properties lost during the #EndSARS protest and the Shasa market crisis.

The blockade had resulted in scarcity and an increase in the prices of food items in the south — while a supply glut crashed prices in the north.

Yahaya Bello, Kogi state governor, helped facilitate the agreement to end the blockade during a meeting with the leadership of the union in Abuja.

Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation, was also in attendance at the meeting.

Awwalu Aliyu, an official of the union who spoke to TheCable on Tuesday, had said the union preferred that farm produce go to waste rather than tolerate “continued attacks” on its members in the south.

On Monday, the AUFCDN said the Department of State Services (DSS) invited Mohammed Tahir, the union’s president, over the blockade.