Zamfara farmers want more security operatives on farms

Farmers in Zamfara State have called on the authorities to deploy more  security operatives to protect them in their farms.

Despite the start of the rainy season, farmers in Zamfara are still finding it hard to go to their farms owing to incessant attacks and abductions by armed bandits, Caliphate Trust has learnt.

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In Kawaye district of Anka local government area of the state, dozens of hectares of farmlands remain uncultivated as farmers have abandoned them for fear of being killed or kidnapped.

“From Duza to Dawan jiya, Duhuwa and communities Gobirawa uncultivated lands are a common sight. At the beginning of the rainy season in April and May this year, many farmers were either kidnapped or killed mostly while working on the farms. “This has instilled fear on we the farmers and we decided to abandon the lands. These criminals are everywhere. The moment you go at least five kilometres away from your community you would see them. I fear serious shortage of food unless something is done to address the problem,” a farmer Yunusa Muhammad, said.

In Dansadau, a district with a very fertile land for the story is the same. The armed criminals have slammed levies on many farming communities as a precondition for them to attend to their crops. Most of the residents of these communities, our correspondent learnt, have fled. Another farmer Ali Kabir lamented: “A week ago, two farmers were killed on a farm near Yar tasha community, located just 30 kilometres north of Dansadau town. This is apart from the fact that you cannot rear oxen with which most of our peasant farmers till their lands. The oxen have all been rustled.

“Over the years, we have lost farm produce worth millions of naira to this crisis. At times we plant and grow our crops but we won’t be allowed to harvest them. Dozens of hectares of farmlands were destroyed by these armed criminals. They drive their cows into our farms and damage crops.

“We heard that 780 more policemen would be deployed. This is good step coupled with the fact that Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle has distributed 200 operational vehicles the security operatives.

“What I’m saying is that rural communities are left without security outfits. They become vulnerable to attacks by cattle rustlers and bandits. If you go to most of the villages, you will find out that they are virtually without any security outfit,” Ali said.

Another resident, Murtala Usman also made a case for rural areas in the deployment of more security operatives to the state adding that farming and herding communities in the state are more prone to deadly raids than in bigger towns or cities.

“It is our fervent prayer that rural communities would be favoured. We suffer more than any other community. Why are armed bandits not attacking Gusau, the state capital or say bigger cities like Talata Mafara or Kaura Namoda?

“Most of the local government headquarters are secured. But what about villages. I can tell you that in most of the attacks on rural communities there were no security personnel stationed there to foil them. The vulnerability is too high,” he lamented.