At Dadin Kowa Dam, it’s locals vs. hippos

Recently, there was a rare find of a colony of hippopotamuses in Dadin Kowa Dam, which  is located 5 kilometres north of  Dadin Kowa village, about 37 kilometres from Gombe town, along Gombe-Biu road. But instead of bringing excitement to the communities around the dam, the hippos are threatening their livelihoods
The huge dam was meant to provide potable water for domestic and industrial use as well as support all-year irrigation for the farming communities around the area.
The dam was completed by the federal government in 1984, basically for the purpose of dry season farming, fishing and generation of electricity.
However, beside the purposes it was meant for, experts believe that the Dadin Kowa Dam is an abode of over 70 hippopotamuses, a development that generates mixed feelings among the people that rely on it for their day to day survival.
A big source of worry is the destructive tendencies of the hippopotamuses that more often than not, navigate beyond their boundaries to destroy large rice fields and other crops in the area.
They spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water to keep their massive bodies cool. At sunset, however, hippopotamuses leave the water and travel overland to graze. They may travel 10 kilometres in a night, along single-file pathways, to consume some 35 kilogrammes of grass.
In the last few years, farmers have recorded huge losses as a result of encroachment by hippos, an ugly trend that forces them to do an unfamiliar and risky venture of sleeping on their farms in a bid to stop the sea beasts from destroying their crops.
The Forestry Officer of Yamaltu Deba local government area, Alhaji Isma’ila Umar Mai Gombawa, said in a recent interview that the hippopotamuses came from Kiri Dam in Adamawa State, which passes through Gombe and Borno states. He explained that the hippos normally pass through over five local government areas in search of food.
He said they pass through Shani local government area in Borno State, as well as Yamaltu Deba, Kwami, Nafada and Dukku local government areas in Gombe State.
“Hippos usually come out in the night in search of food. They eat grass and because farmers plant their maize and rice near the dam, the hippos normally sneak out, enter the farms to feed and thereafter destroy the crops,” Gombawa said.
He added that sometimes, farmers build trenches that would prevent the hippos from crossing to their farms.
“But some of the big hippos are clever enough; they use their sense of judgment and crawl, carefully paving their way into the farms.  As a result of this, farmers use to sleep in their farms,” the forestry officer said.
Gombawa said the hippos usually live deep inside the water but sometimes, if a female hippo gives birth, she normally finds a way of hiding the kid if it is male for fear of being killed by other males in the group.
He said as a result of this, the young male hippo would grow up in a different territory, most probably near where farmers and fishermen do their activities.
Gombawa added that, the hippo becomes wild as he grows up and ultimately starts attacking farmers and fishermen. He said hippos that live in the dam are not wild.
“They have no problem with fishermen, but in the night, they destroy farms and sometimes they even kill human beings,” Gombawa said.
The officer said when the hippos become notorious forestry workers normally kill them after receiving approval from relevant authorities.
Our correspondent reports that the first hippo that migrated to Dadin Kowa was killed in 1973; the second was seen in the town of Gwani and killed in 1985 in Hinna town; and the third was killed in 2015.
Umar said the first one was killed because it blocked the only road to GwaniI from Shani and was terrorising the community. He said the second and the third were killed because they killed some people.
The one killed this year was gunned down following collaboration between soldiers and local hunters because it was terrorising Dadin Kowa community, especially the people living around the dam.
Hundreds of spectators from the town and neighboring communities witnessed the killing of the big hippo.
Speaking with reporters in Dadin Kowa, a community leader and custodian of the dam, Sarkin Ruwa Saadu Adamu, said the hippo terrorised the community by destroying their farms and crops.
He said on many occasions, it threatened to kill fishermen in the dam as it usually attacked their canoes while they were fishing.
The community leader said the hippo had lived peacefully with the community for over four years but it recently started destroying farms and attacking fishermen.
Adamu said they have over 70 hippos in the river and this was the second time they killed such a big water animal. “One was killed 28 years ago after it attacked and killed one Fulani herdsman,” he said.
He said they usually seek the permission of the local and state governments before they kill such animals.
One of the hunters, Yakubu Baushe, said they participated in the killing of the animal which was shot around 3 am.
The forestry officer said they recently caught a small male hippo in the area. “We suspect that he was attacked by a male in their group because of the injuries he sustained and he run away. We sought the permission of the authorities and took it to the zoo of Gombe State University,” he stated.
For now, there is relative calm around the dam as the fear of hippos’ attacks has subsided and farmers are going about with their activities without let or hindrance, but they still have to sleep on their farms to prevent the animals from destroying their crops. It is now left to be seen when another hippo would be found.