Armed bandits in Benue State’s Sankera axis, comprising Katsina-Ala, Ukum, and Logo local government areas, are squeezing local farmers with illegal extortion levies, threatening to cripple Nigeria’s food basket.
Insurgents now demand fees ranging from N500,000 to as much as N100 million from farmers simply to access, plant, or harvest their farmlands. Those who cannot afford these sums are forced to abandon their crops, leaving entire communities destitute and turning former breadwinners into refugees.
A farmer in Katsina-Ala Local Government, who has abandoned his farm for safety, told Business Day he fled after suspected bandits demanded N100,000,000 as a condition to access and harvest his crops.
‘Several farmers who could not afford to pay before planting and harvesting have fled their homes and abandoned their farms. Others have completely stopped farming and turned to political beggars with their children,’ he said.
Joseph Iorngee, a native of Michihi in Mbagena Kpaav, Shitile area of Katsina-Ala LGA, narrated his family’s ordeal at the weekend during a capacity-building workshop on Promoting Safety, Security, Rights, Accountability and Access to Justice organized by SERAP in Makurdi.
Iorngee, a student of Benue State University, now Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi, said bandits stormed his father’s residence at midnight about two weeks ago and demanded N500,000 before he could harvest his ripe groundnuts and beniseed.
‘They were not wearing masks. They gave my father three days to raise the N500,000 and warned that reporting to police would worsen the situation. My father pleaded for one week,’ he said.
While his father was away for a burial near Katsina-Ala town, the bandits returned at night and abducted his mother, beating her thoroughly. They alleged her husband ran away to avoid payment. She was later released following the intervention of one of the attackers.
‘Three days ago they came back at night. By this time my father was back and had borrowed N200,000 from friends and paid them. They collected it but still told him to look for the balance before he can access his farm,’ Iorngee said.
‘As I am talking to you now, my father has abandoned the farm for safety. He generates all his income through farming. But now we are helpless. I have siblings in university and polytechnic. The first born graduated with HND from Gboko Polytechnic and needs money for NYSC clearance but we can’t afford it. The little money my father saved from previous farming has gone to bandits,’ he added.
Iorngee said the situation has affected him personally. ‘I cannot afford rent, food and other expenses to resume school. My father is hypertensive and is currently on the run. If he goes back home it might be the end of his life.’
He also raised the alarm on how bandits have struck deals with drivers in the area. The drivers are forced to inform farmers how much they will pay per item conveyed to market.
‘If it is yam it is N500 per tuber multiplied by the number. If it is groundnut in bags, a farmer will pay N2,000 per bag. Any driver that fails to do this will be kidnapped and if he resists, he will be killed,’ he said.
‘This situation has forced so many farmers to abandon their farms and even their homes for safety. If urgent measures are not taken, there will be a threat to food security in the country.’
He said traders no longer come to their markets for fear of attacks and kidnapping, and farm produce cannot be sold even when harvested.
‘Our earnest appeal to the government and all right-thinking people is that we want safety. We want to go back home and farm without fear. Not just my family, but my community and the entire Katsina-Ala in the Sankera axis,’ he pleaded.
The extortion scheme has compromised the region’s entire transport and trade network. As a result, regional traders have stopped visiting local markets out of fear, leaving the little food that is harvested unable to reach buyers.
Agricultural experts and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) warn that the collapse of farming in Sankera could trigger severe national food shortages and sharp price inflation. Because the area accounts for a major share of Nigeria’s domestic yam supply and agricultural exports, AFAN officials are urging federal and state authorities to deploy security forces immediately to protect farmlands before the crisis worsens nationwide.
AFAN, govt urged to act
In an interview, the state chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, said the association is aware of what farmers in the Sankera axis are going through.
Mfa Tor, the Zone A’ Chairman of AFAN, called on the government at all levels to beef up security in the area to enable farmers to have a seamless harvest.