Onion dealers to stop supplying southern Nigeria

If governments do not comply to the group's requests, the Association of Onion Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (OPMAN) has threatened to restrict supply to all portions of southern Nigeria starting Monday.

One of OPMAN's demands, according to Daily Trust, is that members of the organization who have lost their lives as a result of ethnic and religious violence in the South be paid.

Others include restoring peace and order in these places and conducting a thorough inquiry into the causes of their members' attacks.

OPMAN also urged communities to protect northern entrepreneurs' constitutional rights in their states.

OPMAN chairman Aliyu Isa told reporters following the group's weekend meeting in Sokoto that the group's members had lost onions and valuables worth N4.5 billion in separate attacks across the south.

According to him, the organization lost three members during the Aba crisis in Abia State, as well as 30 trailers, nine vehicles, 50 stores, and 10,000 sacks of onions, among other vital items.

He said 27 persons were slain in Shasha, Oyo State, along with five trailers, 5,600 bags of onions, 12 automobiles, and other valuables. In Imo State, members were robbed of N13 million worth of onions, according to Isah. According to the BBC, the group has previously threatened to go on strike in the south if their concerns are not addressed.