The Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, has claimed that the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria, AUFCDN, was forced to suspend its blockage of food supply to the Southern Nigeria.
CNG in a statement by its spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said, “With earlier reports that the leadership of AUFCDN was arrested and detained by the security and the intimidation of union leaders out to enforce the blockade by the Military, everyone can see that the strike suspension was far from voluntary.”
The forum noted that another pointer was the involvement of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State who, according to the group apart from serving his interest in the 2023 presidency, has no direct stakeholding in the issue.
The group opined, “We all know that Governor Bello had never shown any concern over the plight of the northerners when they were attacked during the EndSARS uprising and at Sasha, Ibadan.
“For someone like that to suddenly move to intervene to halt legitimate pressure to extract compensation for the innocently attacked northerners is certainly mere self-service aimed at personal political ascendancy.”
It noted that “the involvement of Governor Bello with Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode – a self-appointed enemy of the North who would leave no stone unturned in furthering the plot to destabilize the North, is another pointer that the intervention was mischievous and certainly not in the interest of northerners.”
“Besides, the agreement reached did not disclose any commitment by the authorities on the demand for payment of compensation for lives and properties lost by northerners to the attacks,” the statement explained.
They stated that there was also no solid commitment for the guarantee of the future of northern settlers and traders living as minorities in the South or carrying out legitimate businesses there.
“Northerners should, therefore, be wary of the manoeuvres of such southern politicians and their northern collaborators like Bello whose eyes are only primed on the presidency and not the general safety of the country and the North in particular,” CNG observed.