Farmers, represented by the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria, have urgently called upon President Bola Tinubu to address the ongoing onslaught of bandit attacks targeting both farmers and their agricultural yields.
Bearing witness to the plight, the group bemoaned the loss of countless farmers’ lives and the reported kidnappings that have occurred following bandit incursions across the nation’s agricultural areas.
Addressing the audience in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, on Monday, Mr. Ayodele Ojo, the National President of the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria, expressed deep sorrow over the relentless killing of farmers and the devastation of their farmlands.
He stated that due to the reported attacks, many farmers have forsaken their fields out of fear of being targeted for abduction or violence, leaving their farms vulnerable to takeover by kidnappers and bandits while security forces appear unable to intervene effectively.
Ojo said, ” We don’t know what is happening. The insecurity in the land is getting out of hand, we want Mr. President to look into it as a matter of urgency. Farmers cannot access their farms to harvest their farm produce despite the fact that the produce are due for harvest.
“Bandits have harvested some of the farm products, they kidnap our members (farmers) while we also pay ransom for their freedom.
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“Some of the hoodlums are now in control of the farms of some of our members, and we are in a very difficult situation now because we are not allowed to visit our farms again. Many of us have not been to the farms for weeks now because of the fear of being kidnapped.
“These people kidnap farmers for ransom and if a farmer fails to pay, he can be killed, We need President Tinubu to come to our aid, we need security agencies to come to our aid, our means of livelihood is threatened and our lives are in danger”
He warned that if the situation is not brought under control, there might be a shortage of food this year and in the future.
The President of CPFAN stated that farmers nationwide have strongly opposed the recent directive from the President, urging state governors to allocate land for grazing for herders. He clarified that establishing grazing zones for herders would inevitably lead to clashes between farmers and herders across the country.
He pointed out the various hurdles confronted by farmers and underscored the necessity for the Federal Government to avoid adding to food insecurity in the country.
He suggested that directing state governors to provide land for grazing zones would only lead to a recurrence of the same ineffective approaches from the past.
Additionally, Ojo called on the National Assembly to review Tinubu’s suggestion for grazing zones, while making an appeal to the federal, state, and local governments to allocate greater financial resources to the agriculture sector.
“We believed in the capacity of President Tinubu to solve the problems bedevilling Nigeria but we want to beg him to allocate more money to agriculture sector in order to find a lasting solution to the challenges of food security looming in the country.
“We totally reject this proposition of President Tinubu on creation of grazing zones. What we need to do at the moment is to find a solution to the problem of food scarcity and how to encourage farmers to grow more food and not allow another round of destruction.” he stated.