Our Lives in Danger, Farmers Lament Bandits Attacks

Farmers, under the auspices of Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to find urgent solutions to the incessant bandit attacks on the farmers and their produce.

The group lamented that countless number of farmers have lost their lives, and many have allegedly been kidnapped on the farms after bandits attacks across the country.

Speaking in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Monday, the National President of Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr Ayodele Ojo, lamented the incessant killing of farmers and destruction of their farmlands.

According to him, as a result of the alleged attacks, most farmers had abandoned their farms over fear of being killed or kidnapped while the kidnappers and bandits have taken over their farms and security operatives seem to be helpless.

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 CPFAN President said farmers across the country kicked against the recent instruction by the President, calling on state governors to provide land for grazing for herders, explaining that the creation of grazing zones for herders is an invitation to farmers/herders clash in the country.

He noted that the farmers had faced a lot of challenges and that the Federal Government should not contribute to food insecurity in the land.

He said mandating state governors to give land as grazing zones would be a repeat of the same ineffective strategies employed in the past.

Ojo also called on the National Assembly to look into the call for the grazing zone by Tinubu, appealing to the federal, state, and local governments to allocate more funds to the agriculture sector