Food Crisis: Terrorists Have Occupied 50% Of Our Land, Emir Cries Out

By Uche Mbah

The Emir of Wase, HRH Muhammad Haruna, has said his people can no longer go to farm since bandits have taken over 50% of their land.

This, according to him, spells doom for food production and remains a panacea for famine.

Terrorists under the guise of cattle rearers have done untold damages to farmers’ crops through their cattle, a situation that the Federal Government appears helpless to handle.

According to the Emir, those who still manage to farm cannot conveniently feed demand.

The Monarch said these things Thursday in Jos at a colloquium and fund raising organized by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Plateau State Council with the theme: “Tackling food crisis in Nigeria through robust research for sustainable development.”

“I am a farmer, and majority of the people in my domain are farmers. Two things I want to mention is the issue of security. A lot of us leave the villages to the city to look for greener pastures because we cannot afford to go to our farms. This is not because we are lazy to be given fish. If the atmosphere is conducive for us to work on our farms, the number of people in city will reduce because they will go back to the villages.

“We want to farm because of the vast land we have which God has blessed us with. There is basically nothing you cannot farm in Wase. Unfortunately, 50 percent of the landmass has been taken over by terrorists. Our people cannot go to farm. This week a very ugly incident happened in one of the villages in Wase and for the first time, Governments of the Federal, State and Local took the right action by deploying armed soldiers and police to go and flush out all these people.

“I want to appreciate them for doing the job we have been appealing for years. We are making a special appeal that this should continue so that next year, we will be able to go to farm. The second, about 70% of food that is produced in Plateau State is sold out before next planting season. Some people have taken responsibility, they will give you fertilizer and everything you require to farm but the disadvantage is that they take 70% of what you produce.

“We are in December, maize in Wase is N28,000 per bag, imagine by April, how much it will cost. That is the food that is considered the poor man’s food. The one considered the rich man food, rice is N26,000 or N27,000. The kind of problem we are likely to have in Plateau and by extension, Nigeria, if people are hungry during harvest period, imagine will be the next fesituation months.”