News in brief: Residents in some communities of Kaduna State, Nigeria, are facing heightened bandit attacks on farmers, exacerbated by concerns of impending food scarcity and famine. The Birnin-Gwari community, particularly affected, has called for urgent government action, including the establishment of military detachments, to address the situation and improve medical facilities.
Residents of some communities of the Nigerian state of Kaduna, are lamenting heightened bandit attacks on farmers in the state. The situation, they say, is made worse by impending food scarcity and famine concerns.
Members representing Birnin-Gwari community in Kaduna state said bandits had gone on rampage in the area, destroying lives and property.
A statement by the town union, the Birnin-Gwari Emirate Progressive Union, condemning the killings, called for urgent action by government to facilitate the establishment of military detachments in parts of the community.
Furthermore, they lamented the poor state of the medical institutions available including lack of personnel and equipment as factors leading to deaths of victims in the case of emergencies from bandit attacks. They requested the state government to provide more health personnel or recruit indigenous medical doctors who would manage the hospitals as victims of armed banditry continue to die due to insufficient primary medical attention.
Part of the statement claimed that bandits went about their operations in the area with wanton spree, targeting mainly farmers.
Reports say some of the criminals have resorted to grazing their herds on farmlands and have directly threatened farmers to cease going to their farms. The union also fear that food scarcity and famine are on the way.
The Birnin-Gwari area is made up of rural communities including Sabon-Layi, Kurgi, Yelwa, Shiwaka, Unguwan-DanFulani and others. It is bordered by the Kamuku and Kuyambana Forests, which serve as hideouts for the numerous scores of bandits.
Locals have been reportedly abducted or killed on their farms by the gunmen, a situation they can only describe as rampant. Some communities have witnessed the destruction of as much as ten farmlands especially maize farms by the terrorists. Cases of kidnap are also on the rise, with few victims making it out alive from the ordeal.
Bandits have repeatedly blocked traders and grain suppliers on their way to and from the farms or markets. Reports say as much as 70% of farmlands are inaccessible in the area.
