Farmers from Kidandan and Galadima villages in Kaduna State are forced to pay taxes to bandits disrupting peace in their communities before working on their various farmlands while those from Angular Fala’u and Kerawa villages were constantly harassed and kidnapped while working on their farms
Malam Jamil Kidandan, a resident of Kidandan village, narrated that, people who live in the communities are mostly farmers and as such pay the sum of N70,000 to N100,000 before they can harvest their farm produce adding that, farmers who decline to pay the tax, will face harassment from the bandits or get kidnapped, killed or have their farm produce seized by the bandits, Daily Trust reports
According to Kidandan, the kingpin and his employees stay by the side while a farmer approaches the bandits for negotiation before getting any form of access into the farm adding that, the same atrocities were committed against farmers at the Galadimawa axis
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“The bandits’ warlord and his boys stay by the side while a farmer goes to negotiate with him before gaining access to the farm,” he said.
The farmer appealed to the federal government, including security agencies, to intensify their raids in bandit camps around Giwa LGA.
Another villager in the area, who pleaded for anonymity, listed the names of the bandit warlords terrorising residents in the area to include Buhari, his deputy, Gana’i, while the third in command is called Kwalameri.
However, Malam Jafar Anaba, a community leader, who was displaced from his village at Anguwar Salahu near Kerawa village, warned that there could be a shortage of food crops in the state if necessary actions are not taken adding that many farmers abandoned their farms due to operations carried out by bandits around the area
Meanwhile, WikkiTimes contacted ASP Mansir Hassan, the Public Relations Officer of the state command but he neither responded to the phone calls nor text messages sent to him.
