We paid bandits N400 million to access our farmlands – Kaduna community
A community leader in Birnin-Gwari local government area of Kaduna State, Alhaji Zubairu Idris Abdulra’uf, said for the past two years villagers have paid over N400 million as taxes to bandits so they can be allowed to access their farmlands to plant and harvest crops.
In 2021, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, while presenting a security report confirmed that bandits were taxing farmers in parts of Birnin-Gwari, Giwa, Igabi and Chikun local government areas in order to gain access to their farms.
Abdulra’uf, who is a former managing director of the Kaduna State Media Corporation (KSMC), disclosed that the people of his community have become frustrated with the situation and are willing to embrace self-defence to save themselves since no help is coming from the government.
Speaking with newsmen, he said the incessant attacks on his people had crippled economic activities in the area and made travelling a dangerous mission for the people.
“We have reached the point of no return. People are being pushed to the wall. Just yesterday, Randegi is one of the areas where these bandits have their routes through Zamfara State to Niger State.
“Yesterday, the people of Randegi confronted these bandits who tried to overrun Randegi, a farming community, and they succeeded in dislodging them. So, I think our people are now ready if the government cannot perform its constitutional function”, said Abdulra’uf.
“When you talk of the Birnin-Gwari local government area as a whole, it is between N300 million to N400 million or more paid to these bandits. There are three stages of paying these taxes to these bandits.
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“You have to pay pre-season and mid-season when the crops are about to start yielding. You will pay these bandits because they will not allow you to have access to your farm.
“Then, at the end of the season when you are harvesting, you will give these bandits money before you access your farm.
“And when you access your farm after paying these taxes, they will now tell you that apart from giving them money, you will give a ratio of two bags of every 10 bags of all the assorted grains you harvest.
“For the past three years, this is what the Birnin-Gwari people have been enduring and we are now in a state of hopelessness and frustration. When people are frustrated, they will now look for the best option for themselves, which is to arm themselves if the government cannot protect them.
“We are living in a situation where people can no longer work or even travel one kilometre from Birnin-Gwari town to other areas and it is the same thing that we have in all the districts in Birnin Gwari.
“If something is not done, we are going to have a food crisis. Birnin-Gwari Gwari used to produce at least 700 metric tonnes of assorted grains, but now people cannot access their farms.
“There are many cases, since the beginning of this rainy season, that people are being abducted on their way to the farm and even the cattle they use for farming are being collected from them,” he said.
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