The Onion Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (OPMAN) is set toseize the supply of onion to the SouthEast following the increased level of insecurity in the region.
National President of OPMAN, Aliyu Isah, Making in an official statement to newsmen, said the association’s decision was based on the recent hijack of two of their members’ trucks by gunmen.
According to him, two trucks full of onions from the North were intercepted and raided by the gunmen.
Meanwhile, onion farmers in Sokoto state were said to have lost goods worth N2.4 billion to a fire incident. Although the cause of the fire was still very much unknown , one of the victims, Umaru Aliyu Gidan Fadama, said that the fire started at about 12.30am on Wedneday, June 2, from Yan doya market otherwise known as Ramin Kura.
The chairman of the onion association OPMAN while briefing newsmen on the incident, said the fire incident could lead to a serious onion scarcity in the country since most of the affected producers and marketers had lost their investment.