Farmers in parts of Zamfara and Sokoto States are raising alarm over a growing wave of extortion and intimidation by armed bandits who are now dictating terms for this year’s harvest season. Despite one of the most promising rainy seasons in recent years, insecurity has turned farmlands into battlegrounds of fear and survival, threatening food supply across northern Nigeria.
According to several villagers, the bandits have imposed what they call “harvest taxes,” demanding payments in cash or crops before farmers are allowed to reap what they planted. In some cases, the armed groups have allegedly stationed lookouts around villages, collecting levies at makeshift checkpoints and punishing those who resist.
“We are living under a parallel authority,” lamented a farmer from Tsafe Local Government in Zamfara. “They tell us when to go to the farm, how much to pay, and even take a portion of our grains. Those who refuse are attacked or kidnapped.”
The worsening trend has forced many farmers to abandon their fields, even as crops stand ready for harvest. Reports from Isa, Sabon Birni, and Goronyo areas of Sokoto State reveal similar patterns — communities deserted, farmlands overgrown, and markets facing shortages as food prices soar.
Residents say the situation has reached breaking point, calling for urgent federal intervention and sustained military patrols to secure rural areas before harvest losses deepen the hunger crisis already biting millions.
“Without protection, our efforts are wasted. We may face famine despite having good rains,” said another farmer from Bakura in Zamfara State.
Experts warn that continued disruption of farming activities by criminal gangs could worsen Nigeria’s food insecurity, push inflation higher, and undermine the government’s agricultural recovery plans.
Farmers’ associations and local leaders are appealing directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinibu and security chiefs to deploy troops across hotspot areas, especially during the peak of harvest season.
For now, villagers say they live in fear — not of drought, but of the bullets and taxes of bandits who have turned Nigeria’s fertile lands into zones of lawlessness and despair.
