The popular Abakaliki Rice Mill Industry in Ebonyi State was on Wednesday thrown into serious turmoil following a disagreement which erupted between some rice millers and dealers.
The dealers, locally referred to as Blanders, operating as middlemen between the millers and customers, were accused by the millers of using fake bushel measurements to sell the commodity to customers.
The development, they alleged, had continued to negatively affect both the reputation and patronage in the industry.
The millers, who over a long period of time had expressed displeasure with the actions of the blanders, had organised themselves in protest against such fraud to unsuspecting members of the public.
The Eagle Online gathered that the protest later turned awry, resulted to free for all between the opposing parties, with unspecified number of persons injured.
Some of the millers who spoke to newsmen said the crises had been brewing underground and accused the immediate past Chairman of the rice mill, Hon. Joseph Ununu, of instigating the crisis.
Ununu, who is now a member of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, was said to have constituted the blanders during his tenure and allegedly used them to cause commotion in the rice mill against the new leadership under Samuel Ogodo.
Innocent Achi and Hon. Friday Okpoto, who spoke to our correspondent, alleged that the cups of rice in the bushels used by the blanders were incomplete.
Achi explained: “The rice millers are tired of fraud.
“They said they did not want the blanders.
“One of the blanders, Chinedu Eshi, my brother, became angry and started scattering any rice they see because the millers said they will not sell rice to the blanders.
“If the normal bushel used in selling rice is 40 cups for instance, their own will be 36, removing sometimes above four cups.”
Corroborating Achi’s submission, Okpoto added that the blanders were always supported by the past chairman, which, according to him, had made them grow wings.
He said: “They make use of fraudulent bushels.
“The bladders operate this way: when they buy rice from us, they will use incomplete bushel to sell it.
“Therefore after buying rice, the rice would be incomplete.
“The millers do not want those people.
“Because we say we do not want them, the blanders went to the former chairman because he is the one that constituted them.
“When the millers say they will not sell rice to them, they will come to your shop and start forcing you to sell rice to them even to the extent of scattering or even destroying millers’ rice.”
Another rice miller, Emeka Ogah, further alleged that his N200,000 was stolen in the midst of the crisis and accused a leadership member of the blander of masterminding the theft.
Meanwhile, in an interview, the leader of the blanders, Nnenna Ununu, who is also the wife of the past chairman, accused the rice millers of beating up the blanders.
She further explained that the committee set up by the House of Assembly to intervene in the matter visited the rice mill and directed them to go on with their businesses.
She expressed surprise that the millers should take to protest and refusal to sell rice to blanders before the fixed date by the Assembly for settlement.
Ununu narrated: “When the committee from the House of Assembly came here this morning, it directed that we should go ahead with our normal businesses.
“They said that from Monday they would address the problem.
“Immediately they left, the chairman said that they should not sell rice to these women.
“I am also a mill owner, but I wonder why other rice millers have refused to sell rice to them.
“So many people were injured.
“We want the government to come to our aid because immediately the committee members from the House left, they started beating the women, saying they would not sell rice to them.”
Some of the customers who spoke to The Eagle Online, including Jacob Amuta, Angelina Ogodo and Ambrose Nwovuta, noted that the activities of the blanders had continued to take negative toll on both the quality and measurement of the commodity in the Mill.
Amuta said: “These people (the blanders) are very bad.
“Most of them mixe good rice with bad ones and still sell it to us unknowingly at the price of the best quality.
“Something should be done to curb their excesses.”
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