The activities of middlemen who buy grains at giveaway prices from farmers and hoard the commodities only to resell at exorbitant rates has become an issue of great concern to consumers in Sokoto State.
Daily Trust on Sunday visited some local government and village markets following the increasing concerns being raised by many in the state on the issue.
In Rabah Local Government, the middlemen are noted for converging at the Gandi Friday market and literally taking over virtually all routes leading into the market.
“They are usually many, and in a hurry to outdo one another, they tend to wrest the bags of grains from the farmers as they make their way to the market with their produce. They snatch the bags of grains from their owners, sometimes almost wrestling them to the ground,” one of the villagers who simply identified himself as Aliyu, said.
He added: “They are always there in their numbers, and along the road leading to Gandi town. Gandi is a border village between Sokoto and Zamfara states close to Bakura town and the people in the area are predominately farmers hence the heavy presence of middlemen in the area.”
A commercial driver who pleaded anonymity also said, “Every Friday, one cannot fail to notice activities of middlemen at Gandi which is the market day. They are all over the place and with so much money to buy all they want.
“Some of the very rich ones send their boys to villages to purchase grains from farmers directly at giveaway prices only to sell to consumers at inflated rates,” he said.
In Goronyo Local Government, Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that middlemen collect money from their rich grains merchants and travel to Mailake in Saban Birni Local Government, Bayarda, Kai Kazzalla, Labani and other surrounding villages to purchase grains from farmers at low prices which they hoarded.
At Goronyo town on Sundays, which is the market day, middlemen could be seen at strategic points along the Goronyo-Shiraka road where they engage farmers on their way to the market and buy off their grains.
It was learnt that they buy a measure of millet from farmers at N200 and sell at N300-N450 and a sack at N12,000 and sell at N30,000.
The chairman of the grain sellers at Goronyo market, Alhaji Jariri Rimawa, revealed that the middlemen or boys as they are referred to, work for two categories of masters.
“There are the highly influential and rich individuals who give large sums of money to such boys to go far and wide into villages mostly during harvesting period to buy directly from farmers.
“They come and re-bag the grains, store it and wait for the right time to bring it out for sell at exorbitant prices thereby making huge gain from the system,” he stated
The other category, he said, comprises people who station themselves at strategic locations during village market days. They wait for arrival of peasant farmers and purchase the little grains they were bringing to market which they later sell to consumers.
“A scene recently reported was of a village where three separate groups of middlemen arrived at a village one after the other. The first team offered N250 for a measure of millet, the second team offered to buy at N 270 while the third team upped the offer to buy at N300.
“This is to show how far they can go to ensure they get plenty grains for their masters most of whom want to have many stores full so that after harvest, or at the time of scarcity, they will sell the stocked grains at high prices,” Alhaji Jariri said.
He added: “They can go to any length to ensure the peasant farmers didn’t reach consumers.”
Some consumers say they hardly buy grains from farmers because the middlemen do not allow the little grains to get to the market through the farmer.
At Dange market which holds on Wednesdays and Sundays, the middlemen could always be seen at the northern and eastern gates of the market.
The middlemen are noted to buy a sack of millet at N10,000 and sell at N13,000 or more. They also target bundles of grains (dami) which they buy at N1,800 and sell at N2,400,
Alhaji Musa Dande, a farmer, said when the middlemen stockpile enough for their masters, they sometimes transport some to Niger Republic where they get much profit.
He lamented the activities of those he described as large-scale hoarders who take the grains to Niger Republic to sell.
Alhaji Musa called for drastic action against such middlemen for food to be affordable to the common man in the country.
“I know of a hoarder who takes 5000 to 6000 sacks of grains to Niger Republic, and there are many doing it so it is left to the authorities to do something to curb the trend,” he urged.
Last Friday, the sermon by some imams at mosques in parts of the state were centred on the issue of hoarding and profiteering.
For instance, the Chief Imam of Tofa Jummat mosque in Raba Local Government Area, Malam Abubakar Tofa, warned Muslims to desist from hoarding food items with a view to reselling at the time of scarcity.
He said Islam prohibits hoarding, especially of food items with a view to cause hardship to people.
The imam urged traders to fear Allah and shun anything capable of harming their fellow human beings.
Similarly, the Chief Imam of Gigani Central Mosque in Gwadabawa Local Government Area, Muhammad Gigani, stressed the need for farmers in the state to refrain from selling their commodities to middlemen.
He said the call was necessary to avoid shortage of food items.
However, some of the local government authorities contacted denied knowledge of such activities at their localities.
Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, Chairman Dange Shuni Local Government Council, Alhaji Mode Dantasallah Amanawa, said they were not aware of such middlemen activities in the grains market.
He however said the council would investigate the claims and take action where necessary.
