The Adamawa chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has charged members not to take the law into their hands but to employ security guards as harvest begins.

It also advised farmers to be on the alert against farm thieves.

The chairman of the chapter, Usman Michika, made the call on Sunday.

He said that during harvest most members faced challenges of theft and clashes with herders who destroyed farm produce after farmers had suffered from the beginning of the season to the end.

According to him, farmers in the state are expected to record bumper harvests as against 2020 when a lot of farmers ended up not having anything because of a shortage of rainfall.

“As harvests begin, it is the time of having clashes with herders, so everybody should sit up and employ security guards to take care of their farms and not to take the law into their hands.

“To report to the nearest authority that your farms have been destroyed by herders is better than taking the law into your hands,” he advised.

According to him, failure to do so may generate tension in the society hence the need to be conscious of this development on time.

“You should take good care of your farms as we are hoping for bumper harvests.

“Be vigilant not only for herders.

“There are some people out there waiting to go and harvest your crops earlier than you. You should be on alert against this too,” he admonished farmers. In November 2020, no fewer than 43 rice farmers, working on their field, were massacred in northern part of Borno, a neighbouring state to Adamawa.
The Buhari regime blamed the farmers for not getting security clearance to return to the area that has been ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency.