Farmers have been under serial attacks in Nigeria, mainly in Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara, Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Abuja, fuelling fear of acute food shortage if the federal and state governments do not intervene immediately.
Across the country, findings revealed that farmers are abandoning their farms, plantations, orchards and processing factories amid the increasing spate of armed invasion, kidnapping and destruction of farmlands and farm products by herdsmen.
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Niger State, for instance, has become the epicentre of banditry and kidnappings with daily kidnappings of persons, especially farmers, different communities Egbako, Ndaruka, Ebbo, Ndagbegi, Tshogi, Gogata and Ndakogitu, among others.
Due to the continuing attacks by armed herdsmen in Nigeria farmers are abandoning their farmlands and farm produces. In Tukuba a settlement in the Kuje Area Council of FCT on January 29 armed herdsmen invaded plantation and destroyed farmland and farm produce.
Nigeria has witnessed an unprecedented upsurge in the cases of kidnapping, targeting farmers, farmlands and commuters, especially in rural areas.
It is quite unfortunate that farmers in Nigeria have become targets of kidnappers such and are now afraid to go to their farms. If the situation is not addressed urgently there would be food shortage in the country and it will lead to high inflation in soaring food commodity prices, which could be associated with an economic downturn.
The government should improve security sector and allocate more financial resources to support farmers if possible, they should create entrepreneur centres in all constituencies or skills acquisition centres for our teeming youths.
Abdullahi Adamu ([email protected])
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