Food traders under the umbrella of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff And Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) have vowed to embark on a nationwide strike from midnight Thursday, February 25.
A letter sent to our correspondent and addressed to the Area Council Chairman, Federal Capital Territory said the union will block all food trading businesses in the country during the strike.
The letter dated 19th February, 2021 was signed by the AUFCDN National Secretary, Alhaji Ahmed Alarama titling “Notification of Nationwide Strike.”
It read in part, “that it is also important to inform you that all the 36 states of the federation including FCT-Abuja shall be responsible for the activities that will take place in their states by closing areas of doing businesses and blocking all the exit.
“It is also important to note that any member of the union that violates the instruction from the national headquarters by loading or offloading from any of the states shall be severely dealt with.
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“It is also agreed that each state will provide two persons to act as supervisors and reporting their updates to the national headquarters periodically until further instructions are issued in this regard.
“We also want to inform you that we have written to President Muhammadu Buhari and other government agencies demanding for our rights. Copies of the letter are hereby attached.”
In an interview with our correspondent, the leader of the truckers and Chairman, Garkuwa Youth Organization, Alhaji Shauibu Wada said, “our trucks are being attacked everyday especially on the South Eastern roads.
The security agents on highways collect higher amount of money from us before they will allow us to pass.
“We can not be transportating food from one part of the country to another and at the same time endangering our lives.
“We are ready to go on strike until the government and relevant authorities assure us of adequate security.”