Stakeholders in the Agricultural sector has appealed to the Federal Government to wade into plan by the Onions Farmers Association to block supply of onions to the southern parts of the country.
The National President of Onion Producers, Mr Aliyu Umar, on May 30 said that the blockade was to avert the violence meted out on some of its members trucks carrying onions to the south.
Gunmen were alleged to have hijacked two of the union members trucks supplying onions to the south east.
Some of the stakeholders, who spoke with NAN on Wednesday, said that the decision was not in the best interest of both the producers and buyers.
The president of the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN), Mr Peter Dama, said that the situation was worrisome.
He appealed to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as well as Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to intervene in order to save the situation.
Dama said that the decision would affect both the farmers and the consumers because of the perishable nature of onions.
The Founder of Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN), Mrs Salamatu Garba, said that the issue needed to be quickly attended to by the government to avoid unpleasant outcome for the economy.
She condemned the hijack of the trucks in the south and appealed to Nigerians not to allow few misguided elements to create problems for the majority.
“The farmers are there in the communities but the middlemen who exploit the situation may be the ones working around this propaganda from both Northern and Southern Nigeria,” Garba said.
NAN
