Farmers in Niger State are currently living in fear after the killing of 13 farmers in the state.

Some of the farmers were said to have abandoned farming to avoid being shot by the bandits.

Suspected bandits on August 19 killed 13 farmers after tracking them to their farms in the Allawa community of the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The bandits were said to have killed them over claims that they supplied intelligence about their (bandits) movement to security agencies.

This was as the state Police Command said they did not have an update yet regarding the whereabouts of the fleeing bandits.

Bandits have been rampaging local government area in Niger State killing and abducting residents.

They have even subjected some of the communities to payment of levies in order to enable them engage in their farming activities.

Some farmers who spoke to Sunday PUNCH on the development expressed fear over the action of the bandits, saying that the security agencies and the state government had shown that there was nothing they could do to arrest the situation.

A yam farmer, Musa Abdullahi, told our correspondent on Friday that he had not been himself since he heard the news of the killing of the farmers.

According to him, farmers are an endangered species in Niger State and the government or the security agencies were helpless.

“Since the news of the killing of the farmers broke out, I have not been myself. I have been wondering and imagining how we farmers go into the bush on our own without security men to protect us.

“This action of the killing of our fellow farmers has shown that it could happen to anyone at anytime and nothing will come out of it.

“It is obvious that both the state government and security agencies cannot do anything about these bandits who go about with sophisticated weapons.

“Every farmer is now afraid of going to his farm. Some of us don’t go the farm for the fear of being killed by bandits. We are begging the state government to invite the Federal Government to come into this issue,” Abdullahi said.

A senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture, who preferred anonymity, said the tragic incident took everyone by surprise. He pointed out that if nothing was done to apprehend these bandits the agricultural plans of the farmer government for this year may be in jeopardy.

“This killing took all of us by surprise. Even the minister has been dumbfounded since that incident. How can those criminals just accuse the farmers of leaking information to security agencies and wasted them just like that?

“Governor Bago must have to sit up and confront this challenge headlong or else his plans of bumper harvest will become a pipe dream.

“Only recently, the Etsu Nupe prayed for rain for our farmers to experience a bumper harvest but now these bandits have struck farmers in the state. Where do we go from here,” the ministry official asked

Efforts to get state government officials to react to the killing of the farmers and the danger posed to the farming community in Niger State on Friday proved abortive.

None of the officials, including the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Mohammed Bello, Commissioner for Agriculture Musa Bosso, Commissioner for Information Binta Mamman and the governor’s Chief Press Secretary Bologi Ibrahim answered calls put across to them.

Meanwhile, the Niger State Police Command spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, who was also called to react to the incident and provide an update on the possible arrest of the bandits, said the police did not have any update but were still investigating the incident.

PUNCH