Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and the former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode on Wednesday led the leadership of the Amalgamated Union of Food and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AFUCDN), to the Presidential Villa, Abuja to request for the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari on the issues leading to the recent food blockage imposed on the south.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a meeting with the Chief of Staff to President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Governor Bello said that the union had tabled a list of demands, which must be met to avert a re-occurrence.
Governor Bello said working with Fani-Kayode, he has been able to reach out to the major stakeholders on both sides on the need for peace to reign.
He disclosed that he had gotten the commitment from the relevant parties to sheath their swords in order to end the hardship that has accompanied the food embargo.
According to him, “I’ve gotten the commitment of the Union. In order for us not to continue to have this hardship across the country, there is need to lift the ban on food and livestock transportation to the south.
“I’ve also gotten a major commitment from people from the south not to attack people of Hausa/Fulani and the traders in the south and that the criminals among them irrespective of tribe and religion should be handed over to law enforcement agents.
“I’ve also gotten the commitment that their lives and properties will be protected also.
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“So, these are the messages we brought to the chief of staff to convey to the president.”
On the demands of the traders to meet the president, Bello said, “Number one demand is to ensure that their goods and the lives of their members anywhere in the country are safe.
“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 that are 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 the 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.”
He further said: “I have the mandate resolve the issue. We’ve been able to reach out to major actors in the southwest to allow peace to reign. We’ve gotten commitment on both sides to sheath their swords.”
Also speaking, the former Aviation Minister, Fani-Kayode said but for the timely intervention, the crisis which he described as a very complicated issue, would definitely have snowballed into a major crisis in the country.
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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 issue, if we have this sort of strong leadership across party lines, our country would be a much better place in the future,” he said.
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