A former Governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, has revealed how bandits practically drove him out of his 10,000-hectare farm in Kaduna State.
Bafarawa said bandits currently decide which farm to cultivate and that people now seek permission from bandits before going to the farm in his community.
“I used to have farmland, which was over 10,000 hectares in Birni Gwari area of Kaduna State. I have been cultivating that land since 1979, but I cannot reach there now because of the bandits.
“The maize I produced that time was in commercial quantity. I used part of it for my flour mill, which is now out of production.
“The issue of insecurity is behind the high cost of food items because many farmers have been displaced.
“There was a time I warned the federal government about the impending food insecurity in the country but my advice was ignored.
“State governments cannot tackle security problems alone without the support of the Federal Government,” he concluded.
Activities of bandits in the Northeast and Northwest have been fingered as one of the factors responsible for the current food crisis in the country.
According to March figures released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, food price inflation stood at 31.70%, a situation experts have tagged as an emergency.
