Bandits occupy 102 Zamfara communities, shut down farming activities
In Zamfara State, over 90 per cent of the people are farmers. They largely depend on agricultural practices to survive.
The state has over the years been producing large quantities of food items, both cash and food crops, which has earned the state the epithet: “Farming is our Pride” .
However, with the emergence of banditry in the state in 2009 and escalated in 2012, makes farming activities almost impossible in many parts of the state, most especially the rural areas where bandits have completely taken over.
Some stakeholders in the state who spoke with newsmen stressed that it is disheartening to note that more than 70 percent of the rural dwellers who survive on farming have been forced to flee to urban areas for fear of the bandits’ attacks, while those who choose to stay behind in their villages are forced to pay levies or taxes to the bandits.
More than 200 villages are currently deserted as their inhabitants can no longer meet up with the assaults and repeated demands of the bandits, thus crippling farming activities to a halt.
“Worse still, many of the farmlands have become grazing areas for the bandits’ animals,” Malam Garba Musa, who is a large-scale farmer in Dada community of Zurmi LGA said.
Investigations revealed that in the villages occupied by bandits, farming has become impossible as they have be become inhabitable.
READ ALSO: Armed bandits kill 20 farmers, injure others in Zamfara village attack
Speaking with journalists in his office, the Secretary to the Zamfara State Government, Alhaji Abubakar Nakwada, disclosed that Governor Dauda Lawal has assured that his administration would do everything humanely possible to ensure that farmers return to their farms this farming season.
Nakwada stressed that the governor has made adequate arrangements with the security agents so that the bandits would be dealt with in order to ensure adequate security in the state.
However, he maintained that the Zamfara State Government would not negotiate with the bandits irrespective of the level of their pressure.
“The administration of Governor Dauda Lawal has no plan to reconcile with the bandits.
“The state government will squarely face them and deal with them so that security will be restored by the grace of God,” he said.
Proofreading, editing by Uji A Iliyasu, Editor at Neptune Prime
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