Insecurity: 38,000 Niger Farmers Besiege IDP Camps

Sequel to the worsening security challenges, farmers have continued to abandon their farmlands for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Niger East zone famous for yam cultivation.

 Investigation revealed that more farming households which specialise in root crops’ cultivation such as yam are now in IDPs’ camps for four local government areas in Niger East.

LEADERSHIP learnt that the people living in the IDPs’ camps around Shiroro, Munya, Rafi and parts of Paikoro have grown to above 38,000. A state official said most of the IDPs were fleeing farmers.

It was also gathered that no fewer than 9,500 large-scale yam farmers who have patronage from across the country in Gwada, Chimbi, Beji and Garatu markets famous for the sales of yam tubers in trailers were also affected.

One of the farmers, Umaru Suleman said he used to farm in over 10 hectares of yam every year and deals in bulk purchase of yam tubers, stated that “as soldiers left Allawa, most the farmers came down to Erena, automatically, we cannot go to farm this farming season “

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“Even before then, the people were too afraid to go to the farm, sometimes we pay them (bandits) to allow us plant and harvest our crops; you can see that the cost of yam in the last harvest season was high, next year will be worse because we cannot even access the farms again,” he added

Another farmer, Ilyasu Amodu said, “it will be suicidal to risk going to the farms now, even in the camp we are, we are afraid of our safety and we must eat, we are in precarious situation “

“I learnt that some of their (bandits’) camps around Allawa forest were bombed recently, we are praying that the situation improves, so that we will not stay in the camp trying to survive because farming is our source of livelihood,” he said.

The director of information of the Niger State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Habibu Wushishi confirmed to LEADERSHIP that there are over 38,000 IDPs and are all predominantly farmers

“We also have over 11,000 out of school children invariably Farming activities are seriously affected because the IDPs no longer have access to their communities and farmlands thereby bringing about shortages and high cost of food stuff,” he said.