From: Joseph Okwuofu,  Ibadan.

The heavy flood at Mokwa , Niger state has trapped scores of trucks loaded with cows, rams, tomatoes,  pepper and other perishable food items heading to South West .

 

Traders in Ibadan , according to reports, were seen crying and lamenting the huge loss .

 

Many traders at Ojoo Market in Ibadan,which is the destination of most of the trucks from the North, were bitterly complaining about the situation.

 

It was learnt that some of the hausa traders were paid in advance by yoruba traders in Ibadan markets to supply goods, and the goods are now trapped at Mokwa .

 

A source revealed that goods worth hundreds of millions of naira are at stake , causing the traders panic and suspense.

 

A trader at Ojoo market , an hausa, who gave his name as Ibrahim said not only yoruba traders paid money for the goods, hausa traders like himself also paid the sum of N14million for supply of rams , but these rams have been at Mokwa for days now without any road to pass.

 

“Goods like water melon, cucumbers, pepper and other perishable goods may have spoiled in the trucks.

 

” Many have lost millions of naira because of this. This has also impacted negatively on prices of commodities in this market,” he said.

 

No fewer than 200 persons were said to have died in the flood which washed off major bridges and roads leading to South West and other parts of the country.

 

Also speaking with this reporter, an old trader at Ojoo Market in Ibadan,  Mallam Abubakar Gumi lamented that he is expecting his rams which he learnt was still trapped at Mokwa following the flood disaster.

 

He said every year, he usually bring rams from the northern part to sell to customers in Ibadan during Sallah celebrations, but this year it was a bad business for him because of the Mokwa flood.

 

Gum who was almost shedding tears , explained that he would be badly affected if the rams failed to reach Ibadan as planned.

 

” Go and see the section of the market where we sell rams,  the place is not what it used to be because of the incident.  Many of the rams are yet to arrive . We are still calling them. We hope there should be another way to save us and our business. We have committed alot of money this year to this business . And see what has happened, ” Mallam Abubakar Gumi further lamented.

 

Many have predicted that the prices of ram for the coming Sallah festival will be beyond the reach of the people majorly because of the Mokwa flood disaster.

 

The situation is not different from Bodija market,  also a major market in Ibadan metropolis where some traders were also said to have paid large sums of money for the supply of rams from the Northern part ,but the goods were unable to be transported to Southwest because the major bridge linking the Northern part with the West has been cut off by the flood.

 

It was a tale of woes as Bodija  traders narrated their experience, how they have been living in suspense since the Mokwa flood disaster.

 

The traders called on the federal government to quickly come to their aid by fixing the  collapse Bridge and also assist the traders.

 

Madam Alebiosu Fatima , a trader in Bodija market appealed to government to quickly intervene to prevent further loss and find a way to compensate the traders .

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