President Muhammadu Buhari has asked security agents across
the country to ensure that traders transporting food items along major roads
are not subject to extortion.
Yahaya Bello, Kogi state governor, said Buhari gave the
directive as a measure to avert another strike by the Amalgamated Union of
Foodstuffs and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN).
Addressing state house correspondents after meeting with the
president on Thursday, Bello said the number one citizen also promised to
address issues that threaten Nigeria’s peaceful coexistence.
The governor had earlier met with members of the AUFCDN,
after which they called off an industrial action to halt the movement of food
supply from the north to the south.
He told journalists that the union demanded an end to the
alleged attack and extortion of their members to avert a recurrence of the
strike.
“There were demands that were put forward by the amalgamated
union, which has to do with compensation for lives and properties lost,” he
said.
“These are people who never requested that the government
should give them subvention. This is their personal wealth and income, and they
are carrying on their lawful and peaceful businesses. But criminals took it
upon themselves to hijack the process, kill these people in their hundreds,
destroyed properties worth billions of naira.
“Those that were killed, their families, the properties that
were lost, where are they going to start from? They are demanding that the
federal government should do something and that the extortion that takes place
on our roads, starting from law enforcement agencies in some cases, and touts
in most cases, be stopped.
“And I thank God, Mr. President has given directive to that
effect, that all law enforcement agencies should ensure that traders should not
be extorted on the roads again.”
Bello also said Nigeria cannot afford to experience another
civil war, as the country is “so much interwoven that we shouldn’t allow any
few bad elements to come and divide us again”.
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