The tomato crates dealers’ association of Nigeria and the amalgamated union of food stuff and cattle dealers of Nigeria have threatened to cut tomato supply to Lagos state over the recent destruction of their wares in Ile-Epo market clash.
The national chairman, tomato crates dealers’ association, Ahmed Alaramma, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Zaria said the incident that occurred at Agege local government of Lagos state led to the destruction of over 60,000 empty tomato crates.
Alaramma who is also the national secretary of amalgamated union of food stuff and cattle dealers of Nigeria explained that raffia basket was initially used for conveying tomatoes to south, adding however that raffia baskets cause more damage to the tomatoes.
He added that the plastic crates were introduced to mitigate damage and wastage while conveying fresh tomatoes from north to southern parts of Nigeria.
According to him, each empty crate costs ₦6000, noting that members lost over n360m investment to the clash.
“Over 70 members of the association rent out the crates to tomato dealers across the country; we have over 60,000 crates which were about to be returned to the north at the market during the turmoil.
“These crates were burnt by the ‘area boys’ during the clash and they prevented our people from quenching the fire.
“We have audio-visual and other proof supporting our claims,” he said.
The association appealed to the federal and Lagos state governments as well as other relevant stakeholders to look into the issue and compensate the association to cushion the effect of the damage.
“If nothing is done, we will have no option than to cut the supply of tomatoes to Lagos over this incident,” he said.
