FARMERS across the nation have raised the alarm over increase in kidnapping and banditry in the country.

The farmers expressed the need for the federal and state government to urgently address the insecurity challenges in the country in order to overcome the looming challenges of food insecurity.

Speaking on behalf of the farmers, the National president of Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria (CPFAN), Ayodele Ojo, lamented over the incessant killing of farmers and destruction of their farmlands, adding that this is threatening food security in the country.

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According to him, most farmers had abandoned their farms over fear of being killed or kidnapped while the kidnappers and bandits have taken over the farms while security operatives are helpless.

Ojo said the farmers cannot access their farms to harvest their produce despite the fact that they are due for harvest, saying the bandits have harvested some of the farm products, while also collecting ransom for their freedom.

He alleged that some of the hoodlums who are herdsmen, are now in control of their farms and said “we are in a very difficult situation now because we are not allowed to visit our farms. Many of us have not been to farms for weeks now because of the fear of being kidnapped.

“These people kidnap farmers for ransom and if a farmer fails to pay, he can be killed.

“We need security agencies to come to our aid, our means of livelihood is threatened and our lives are in danger”

He decried that if the situation is not brought under control, there will be shortage of food next year.

Ojo also said that Nigerian farmers reject totally the creation of grazing zone for herders across the country

The Cocoa/ Plantain farmers president said the farmers across the country frowned over the instruction of President Bola Tinubu, calling on state governors to provide land for grazing for herders.

He noted that the creation of creation of grazing zone for herders is an invitation to anarchy in the country, saying the farmers had faced a lot of challenges and the federal government should not contribute to food insecurity in the land.

According to him, mandating state governors to give land as grazing zone will be a repeat of the same ineffective strategies employed in the past.

He, however, called on the National Assembly to look into the call for the grazing zone by Tinubu, while he appealed to the federal, state and local government to allocate more fund to agriculture sectors.

“We believed in the capacity of President Tinubu to solve the problems bedevilling Nigeria but we want to beg him to allocate more money to agriculture sector in order to find a lasting solution to the challenges of food security looming in the country.

“We totally reject this proposition of President Tinubu on creation of grazing zones. What we need to do at the moment is to find solution to the problem of food scarcity and how to encourage farmers to grow more food and not allowing another round of destruction.

Allocate more money and farm input for farmers, and provide adequate security in all villages and communities by joint hands with our security operatives to flush out all the elements from our society.

We are ready to partner the federal and state government to ensure we have food abundance in Nigeria in order to remain the giant of Africa that we truly are.

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