In an interview with the BBC, Muhammad Tahir, the chairman of the union, described the directive as empty propaganda.
The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff & Cattle Dealers of Nigeria has complained over the recent food blockade imposed on the South East by the Indigenous People of Biafra.
The union in a report on Wednesday expressed its readiness to stop the transportation of livestock and foodstuffs to the South East.
The union was responding to a statement on Monday by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) banning the singing of the national anthem in schools and directing the people of the zone to stop consuming beef of imported cattle from the north.
In an interview with the BBC, Muhammad Tahir, the chairman of the union, described the directive as empty propaganda, saying “we’re tired of such rhetoric.”
He said: “We want a united Nigeria – one nation and one people; but if they (IPOB) deem it otherwise, then we’re okay for that.
“We’re not supplying impoverishment to them, rather we take delivery of our affluence to their region. We supply them with foodstuffs, not toxic substances.”
He said the southern population could not withstand even a day of food or meat blockage from the north.