Blockade on food supplies can’t cower us, says Igbo group

The Association of South East Town Union has said the people of the region are capable of feeding themselves, noting that the blockade on food supplies to Igboland by the North cannot make them cower, shake or scamper for help as may be the belief of some Nigerians.

The group stated this while reacting to the threat by the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuffs and cattle Dealers of Nigeria not to supply food items to the South to protect alleged maltreatment of Fulani herdsmen and some Northerners residing in the south.

Recall that some Hausa youths stationed at the outskirts of Niger State, popularly called Kara-Jebba, near Jebba in Kwara State, last week stopped many truck drivers carrying food items such as tomatoes, beans, yams, cattle, pepper, among others, from going further from Kara into Kwara and other states in the South-West.

The situation, it was gathered, saw the trucks being parked along the road, creating heavy gridlock, while it was reported that some of the food items got spoilt.

The group’s National President, Emeka Diwe, and the Secretary, Gideon Adikwuru, in a statement said it would within a short time put a stop to the capital flight caused by what they called “the imperialism of the northern agro-cartels in Igboland.”

According to the statement, the decision of the Northern traders had helped the plan of Ndigbo through the association to attain total self-sufficiency in food production.

“The target is to encourage the steady and seamless repatriation of Igbo wealth back home, thereby unleashing the potential in all the sectors of the local economy and facilitate job and wealth creation for our people through various value chains.

“We prepared for it, and it has aided the materialisation of our initiative and fast-tracked our agenda which is to harvest home our wealth and make our land an oasis of prosperity among the Black race,” ASETU said.

The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuffs and cattle Dealers of Nigeria had embarked on an indefinite strike, vowing not to supply food items to the South to protect alleged maltreatment of Fulani herdsmen and some Northerners residing in the south.

The union also demanded compensation of N4.75 billion to its members, over alleged losses incurred during the #EndSARS’ protest and razing of their properties at Shasha market in Oyo State.

Meanwhile, Defence Headquarters, in a statement by its Acting Director Defence Information, Brigadier-General Onyema Ugochukwu, said it had cleared the Jebba-Kaduna Road of those preventing trucks from going to the South and restore normalcy in the area.