The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Yobe State have said its members lost over 100 hectares of farmland to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists and criminal herdsmen in three local government areas of the state.
This was made known by the Yobe State Chapter Chairman of AFAN Alhaji Usman Ngari, on Wednesday.

“Gujiba, Geidam and Yunusari Local Governments are facing challenges of insecurity and also during the harvests, they faced challenges with herders who destroyed some of the farms with their cattle.

“More than a hundred hectares of farmland were destroyed by terrorists and herdsmen,” Tribune quoted him as saying.
He said despite that, farmers in the state produced good harvest with minimal rainfall they witnessed during the rainy season.

“This year, the farmers have really done well, only in some parts, the rains stopped earlier, but overall production has been good but it is not 100 per cent”, he added.

He however said there was an ongoing registration of farmers who are interested in irrigation, and many farmers are showing interest.
Alhaji Ngari said a meeting was held between AFAN, herders and the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to the crisis between the farmers and herders.

He said it was agreed that the grazing reserve which was taken away by farmers would be returned to the herders so that they could keep their livestock there without encroaching into farms.

“We have made two major arrangements for the January dry season farming, firstly, we had a meeting with herders together with the federal government to return the grazing reserves that were taken away by the farms to the herders so that they will have enough grass and water for their livestock,” he noted.