Fishermen cry as hippopotamus destroy fishing equipment

Fishermen in Dadin Kowa on Wednesday lamented the destruction of their fishing equipment by hippopotami at the Dadin Kowa dam in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State. Malam Saadu Adamu, the Chairman of Dadin Kowa Fishermen Association said in Gombe that the presence of hippopotami was threatening their business. According to him, the animals, which came from Cameroon through the Kiri dam in Adamawa, were up to 60. He said that the animals destroyed fishing tools. The ravaging animals first invaded the dam in 2012 and have since being destroying fishing nets and other equipment. 'Whenever we mount our fishing tools, they destroy them and that seriously affects our daily catch,' Adamu said. He explained that since the hippopotami arrived at the dam three years ago, things had not been easy for the fishermen. 'Before they came, we were making daily catch of fish worth between N150,000 and N200,000 daily. 'Now we hardly make catches worth up to N60,000 daily,' he said. The chairman explained that the farmers could not kill the animals because they are protected by law. He called on the government to come to their aid and address the problem. According to him, some government officials from Gombe inspected the dam following the farmers' complaint in 2012 but that nothing was done about it.