Spate of bandit attacks in some parts of Katsina state are posing serious threat to agricultural activities in the state as farmers desert their affected villages in droves.
Faskari, Dandume and Sabuwa LGAs in the south are the agricultural hub of the state but bedeviled by incessant kidnapping, cattle rustling, looting and wanton killings by suspected Fulani bandits.
Two years ago, people living in towns and villages in Kaduna and Zamfara states were terrified by the activities of bandits forcing many farmers in villages such as Maganda and Jiruwa in Dandume LGA to abandon their farmlands uncultivated.
Dahiru Alhassan, a farmer in Faskari LGA who relocated to Funtua town for fear of bandit attack said there was no way he could go and work in his farm this year.
“We left Yankara two weeks ago with our families and from all indications we cannot go back to our farms this rainy season unless something drastic and urgent is done by the military to the bandits terrorising our villages. It is only when you are alive and in peace that you will think of farming.”
He added that farmers from Sabon Layi, Maigora, Unguwar Ali Kere, Sheme and some parts of Mairuwa have relocated to Funtua town for safety.
Dahiru further said outsiders that own farmlands in their neighbourhoods have since deserted the area while some of them have put their farms up for sale but there are no buyers.
Arewa Trust Weekly reports that despite the recent military onslaught on the bandits in the state, there was another wave of attacks especially in Sabuwa, Dandume and Faskari Local Government Areas.
Mallam Usman, a resident of Damari village said recently at around 5:30pm, bandits blocked Dandume – Sabuwa road and robbed some passersby.
“Last Monday at around 5:30pm bandits blocked Dandume – Sabuwa road for some minutes before they proceeded to Kyaware, Dungun Kagarko, Dankure and Ganahawa villages where they robbed people.
