A group of young farmers in Tsaragi community in the Edu local government area of Kwara state have complained of incessant attacks by hoodlums in and outside the community.
In a statement by their spokesperson, Abiola Aliu Bolarinwa, which was made available to journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the farmers said the hoodlums, described as religious extremists, usually attack the affected farmers said to be non-natives of the area.
Bolarinwa, noted that the continued attack on farmers will continue to negatively affect food sufficiency in the state and Nigeria as a whole.
He stated further that the hoodlums comprised some identified members of the community and from outside the area, adding that they usually attack the non-native farmers practising commercial farming activities in the area.
The farmer said that he became a target of attack when he converted to Christianity few months ago.
He also said that he had experienced instances of discrimination, insults and destruction from the attackers, adding that they had destroyed his farms, crops and threatened to take his life.
“We are being encouraged by our government to embrace farming to ensure food sufficiency, and we gather money to engage in commercial agriculture to make ends meet, more so when our vocations could not provide us with economic sustenance. This situation is discouraging and dangerous. I have run for my dear life when I was being declared wanted by the hoodlums”, he said.
Aliu, who said some of the farmers plant such crops as yams, pepper, maize, soybeans, and potatoes, added that attitude of the hoodlums in the area could affect food production and food sufficiency if not checked by concerned authorities.
The farmers called on stakeholders in the area, law enforcement agencies, especially the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the police and the state government to intervene in order to prevent imminent breakdown of law and order.
(Tribune Online)
