TRIBUNE
The growing food insecurity in the country, leading to the sharp rise in the prices of foodstuffs, has been attributed to the combined effects of banditry, insurgency, and kidnapping that have become daily occurrences in the northern and southern parts of the country, investigations by the Nigerian Tribune have revealed.
Investigations by our correspondents, especially in Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Plateau, Benue, Niger, Katsina, Borno, and Ekiti revealed that farmers have since abandoned their farmlands, with many residing in IDP camps.
The development, according to investigations, has badly affected the cultivation of rice, beans, tomatoes, guinea corn, watermelon, onions, and millet among others.
In states like Benue, Nasarawa and Ekiti, the activities of kidnappers and bandits have led to farmers abandoning their yam farms, leading to the escalating prices of yams in the market.
In Kaduna, our correspondent reports that residents of the Birnin-Gwari area of the state are mostly farmers and that in recent times, farming activities in the area have gone down as a result of banditry. Bandits have taken over the farms from the locals. The production of crops like maize, guinea corn, millet, and rice, which the area is noted for, has become history, according to a resident, Sallau Ibrahim.
He said that many farmers have been killed, while scores have been abducted. Ibrahim said that the attackers usually stormed their communities to carry out the nefarious acts without challenge.
It was also gathered that in places where the bandits allowed farmers access to their farmlands, they imposed taxes or levies on them before they could harvest the crops.
As a result, many farmers who could not meet up with the tax had to abandon their farms. Gradually, food items started becoming scarce and costly, Ibrahim said.
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