Terrorists sack farmers, as rising food prices set to worsen

THE persistent rise in food prices unsettling majority of Nigerians and fuelling hunger may become worse as farmers have raised the alarm that terrorists were taking over their farmland and preventing them from carrying out their farming activities.

In the North, where the bulk of commercial farming takes place given their vast arable land, some farmers in Zamfara, Katsina, Nasarawa and Benue states in interactions with our correspondents lamented that the insecurity had prevented them from taking maximum advantage of the rainy season, which would have boosted their harvest and crash the price in the market.

Some of them said they had to pay levies to the terrorists to be able to access their farms.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mahmood Abubakar, noted during a recent ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team that attacks by terrorists had denied farmers access to their farms, especially in the North-West and North-Central. He however said the government was making efforts to address the problem.

He had said, “That is one of the reasons why we have an arrangement for security agents known as agro-rangers, who are providing some measures of security so that the farmers will be able to access their farms. Truly, if they cannot completely access farms all over the country, you will expect a drop in production, but right now we are doing everything possible to make sure production is maintained through that security provision.”

In May, Boko Haram members of the Islamic State West African Province faction reportedly invaded some farmland on the outskirts of Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State and killed over 50 farmers. There have been other attacks on farmers in different parts of the North. In the South, some farmers also complained about the invasion of their farms by herders.

Meanwhile, in Zamfara State, where the slogan is ‘Farming is our Pride’, farmers lamented that due to attacks by the terrorists, farming was becoming almost impossible in the state. They said many farmers had been killed while some were kidnapped.

A rice farmer in the state, Alhaji Nuhu Deme, told Sunday PUNCH that food prices might continue to rise and that there could be scarcity if nothing was done to address the challenge. He said this year’s farming season would have been the best in recent years given the improved rainfall but that terrorists had continued to attack, kill or kidnap farmers who dared to go to their farms.

The insecurity in the state came to a head when the governor, Bello Matawalle, said in June that residents should protect themselves with guns, a move that was faulted by the police and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor.

Deme said, “Despite the improved rainfall this year, bandits now addressed as terrorists invade our farmland at will and sometimes we have nothing to harvest. They go about with sophisticated weapons to monitor farmers and ensure that nobody cultivates their crops without first paying them.

“The levy ranges from N100,000 to N1m depending on the size of the farm and it must be paid before a farmer could be allowed to go to their farm. That is not a guarantee the person would be spared in case they decide to launch an attack. Already, some farmers have paid the levy to the bandits and they are able to access their farm. That is why food is expensive because the farmer has to recoup every cost incurred, in addition to the high cost of transportation.

“If a farmer does not have money, the bandits would take part of the crops after the harvest. They are that patient and it tells you they are on ground. If a farmer proves difficult, they will either destroy the crops by grazing their animals on the farm or they will kidnap the farmer. I can tell you that many farmers have fallen victim to their ungodly activities.”

Deme said further that the terrorists sometimes ask communities to pay a certain amount if they want to go to their farms unhindered, and that the amount depends on the size and their assessment of the community.

He added, “Some communities in Dansadau emirate in Maru Local Government Area were levied between N500,000 and N1m and many have found ways to pay because the farmers also need to farm to feed their families. Punch

 

He lamented, “One disturbing situation is that, sometimes the bandits could come back and destroy the crops after collecting the levy from the farmers. Sometimes, once they see people working on their farms, they will kidnap them and take them to their hideouts and demand for ransoms from the families. I can tell you that there are many farmers they have taken hostage for farming without paying the levy.”

Another farmer, Aminu Jangeme, also told Sunday PUNCH that the attacks by the terrorists had left many farmers poor since they couldn’t farm, their only occupation.

Jangeme added, “They took away our animals, they collected millions of naira from us as ransom for the release of our kidnapped relations and now they have refused to allow us to go to our farms.

He noted that the incessant attacks had forced many farmers to flee the state and that some had dumped farming for other ventures. He expressed dissatisfaction over the inability of the authorities concerned to bring the situation under control despite a series of complaints from the affected communities.

He added, “The government is well aware of our plight. We have complained both verbally and in writing. We informed officials of both the state and local governments but nothing has happened. Our emir had on several occasions notified the state government of this problem but nothing has happened.

While noting that the security agents deployed to tackle the problem were grossly inadequate, he said many more farmers might dump farming, which would lead to scarcity. “Another consequence is that if the situation is not addressed on time, many of us farmers will migrate to other states to look for how to survive,” he added. Punch