A fresh attack on over 35,000 hectares of rice farm in Enugu State has caused new concerns about the success of efforts to tackle food insecurity in Nigeria. This was made known by a group known as the Enugu State Graduate Farmers. The group which expressed sadness over the development said the farmland is at Ojoloko farm site at Umuiba, Nara, in Nkanu East Local Government Area of state. Some of the farmers who spoke on Tuesday in Enugu said all their investments in the farmland were destroyed by cattle. The farmers who are distraught by the loss of labour without harvest said their problem is compounded by the fact that they were still expected to refund the facilities they took for the farm from the banks. They said the bank that lent them money was now after them for repayment. According to the farmers, they do not have any fallback position, as they had serially suffered from the activities of the herders. Patrick Mba, the President, Enugu State Graduate Farmers, said that at every harvest, the herders would go to the farm, eat up their rice and set whatever was left of the farms on fire. He said, as a result of this practice, the farmers have lost billions of naira and up till now Sterling Bank is chasing some of them around because of inability to repay the loan they took.The graduate farmers were trained by the administration of former governor Sullivan Chime. Mba said, “We started farming at Adani in Uzouwani Local Government Area, but when the farm was handed over to another company, we relocated to Nara where we have over 50, 000 hectares of land.” Out of the 50,000 hectares, they cultivated 35,000 with certified seed and paddy rice since 2020 and 2021. The aim was to expand to cultivate the remaining 150,000 hectares when they harvest and have been able to repay the loans. But by the turn of the week the invaders came, and the result was tragic. “They (were) in our farm on Sunday and Monday grazing and setting the rest on fire,” Mr. Mba said. He added that they did not confront them but reported the matter to the State Security Service, Amagunze Police Station, and also informed the commissioner of police and the Enugu State Government.He expressed sadness that the peaceful approach had been met with obduracy on the part of the herders. He said, “We have once been invited for a meeting, but after the meeting the herders came back and did worse.” He, therefore, said, “We are appealing to the government to help us stop them from entering our farms as well as organisations to come to our aid as most have lost confidence in farming. Since 2020 that we started, we have lost all that we planted worth N1.5 billion, but this year’s experience was much.” Another farmer and leader of a farm cluster, Chukwudinka Ezeihu, described the attack as a total destruction, stressing that it has been devastating for them. He explained that when they were expecting a quantum of yield from their rice they suffered to farm, they would wake up and see the farm destroyed by herders. “This year alone, we have lost billions of naira. How do we pay people that invested their money in the business? When we sent out videos of the destruction early this January, I made a statement at the Amagunze Police Station where they gave us someone to mediate between the farmers and the herders.”Though efforts were made to reconcile and even get the herders to compensate for losses on the farm, the result of that meeting did not erase the pain inflicted on the farmers by the action of the herders. He said, “How can they be telling somebody who had lost over N1 million that he is going to be paid N200,000 as compensation?”
FRESH HERDERS’ ATTACK IN ENUGU THREATEN FOOD SECURITY
