Farmers in the South-West region of the country have lamented the killings and wanton destruction by bandits who have taken over their farmlands, saying the development threatened planting season. 

In a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to President Bola Tinubu on Sunday, the farmers warned that famine may hit the South-West region if the persistent killings and kidnapping of farmers for ransom go unchecked.

The national president of the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria (CPFAN), Ayodele Ojo, who spoke on behalf of the farmers, lamented that bandits’ activities have made farming a dangerous venture for the locals. 

Mr Ojo observed that farmers in states such as Ogun, Ekiti, Osun, and Ondo, including neighbouring Edo communities with big farms, could no longer access their crops for harvesting due to fear of banditry in their respective areas. 

“We are in a very difficult situation now because we cannot visit our farms,” said Mr Ojo. “Many of us have not been to the farms for weeks now because of the fear of being kidnapped by these terrorists (they are marauding on our farmlands).”

Mr Ojo alleged that the bandits now control many farmlands harvesting their produce unchallenged and grazing some to their cattle. 

“These people (bandits) kidnap farmers for ransom, and if any farmer fails to pay, he can be killed. We need security agencies to come to our aid; our means of livelihood are now being threatened, and our lives are in danger.

“Even our children can’t follow us to the farm again; they’re now scared of getting killed or watching their parents being abducted by these bandits. We are asking the president to attend to this issue urgently,” he stated. 

Mr Ojo said the farmers outrightly rejected the creation of grazing zones for the herders across the country. 

He stated that the advice given by Mr Tinubu to the governors to provide land for grazing in their respective states to address the protracted farmers-herders crisis in the country would be resisted by the farmers. 

Mr Ojo observed that creating such a grazing zone is another invitation to renewed clashes, urging Mr Tinubu not to contribute to food insecurity in the South-West region. 

“We totally reject President Tinubu’s proposition to create grazing zones,” said Mr Ojo. 

He added, “What we need to do at the moment is to find a solution to the problem of food scarcity and how to encourage farmers to grow more food and not allow another round of destruction.”

He asked the National Assembly to intervene in Mr Tinubu’s demand for a grazing zone, noting that funds should be allocated to the agriculture sector.

“We all believed in the capacity of the President (Tinubu) to solve the problems bedevilling Nigeria, but we want to beg him to allocate more funds to the agriculture sector to find a lasting solution to the challenges of food security looming in the country,” Mr Ojo said. 

Last week, Mr Tinubu asked governors to provide land for grazing in their states to address the country’s farmers-herders crisis. 

Although the demand was criticised, Mr Tinubu said that if governors provided lands, he would be committed to providing a comprehensive programme to solve the farmers-herders crisis within two or three weeks.