The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuffs and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCON) says it has introduced a law banning the transportation of humans and animals in the same truck.

“This law bans the overloading of passengers in the same vehicles conveying cattle from the north to Lagos, Port Harcourt, and other parts of the southern regions,” Mohammed Tahir, national president of the union, said in Kaduna.

The development came following the continued clamp down by the Amotekun Corps on northerners migrating to the South-West in trucks conveying cattle.

This is also amid the dangers posed by their unfiltered movement, leading to the arrest of northerners with ammunition and dangerous weapons by the local security outfit.

Speaking further, Mr Tahir said the cattle dealers decided to take the measure following unfavourable reports about the movement of humans and cattle in the same vehicle, thereby causing a security threat, especially in the southwest and east region of the country. 

He also bemoaned the attitude of some drivers who disrespect human lives, noting that the union was ready to be stringent in its approach to ending the attitude of conveying both cattle and passengers in the same truck for transit. 

“The trailers and trucks or lorries are meant for only goods, not humans but due to disrespect for human beings, you will see some vehicles conveying 20-30 people in the same vehicle with animals.

“We all know what happened recently when Amotekun members arrested northerners loaded in a vehicle at Akure town on suspicion of being terrorists. We were not happy hence the need for the ban henceforth,” Mr Tahir said. 

He explained that the union also introduced the issuance of a waybill that contains information about the goods, animals, and the owner including the destination.

According to him, the decision would also help tackle the transportation of stolen cattle and other goods from the north to other parts of the country. 

Mr Tahir, however, added that the ban would also help protect the northern region and its people from being ‘ridiculed’ by southerners.

In August, the Amotekun Corps in Ondo arrested no fewer than 151 suspected invaders, who are northerners, with charms and photographs of combat training. 

The arrest forced the security outfit to begin a 24-hour patrol of the border towns of the state even as the country battles kidnapping for ransom, banditry, and terrorism.