Farmers/herdsmen clash, threat to food security –Senator

The Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Bwacha, on Sunday, warned that the nation might face food crisis this year unless security agencies stopped the invasion of the farms by herdsmen and insurgents.

Herdsmen and insurgents, Bwacha said, were displacing and killing farmers, especially in Taraba State.

Bwacha, representing Taraba South senatorial zone, told journalists in Abuja that the development had taken a worrisome dimension as hundreds of farmers had abandoned their farms and taken refuge as Internally Displaced Persons.

The armed herdsmen, the lawmaker alleged, not only invaded farm settlements in the state but also chased the farmers away.

Noting that his people had informed military and security authorities about the raids, he regretted that no one had taken any serious action to check the 'frequent attacks.'

Bwacha said he became so worried about the attacks that he had to raise a motion on the floor of the Senate to draw attention to the plight of his people.

Bwacha said, 'Following the successes recorded by the military in the three northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the insurgents are beginning to relocate and they are finding Taraba State as a safe heaven.

'It is very clear by the massive movement of strange people into the state and across all the local government areas. In fact, the highlights of those areas are there. We are hereby calling on security operatives to look into their activities.

'I am saying this because we have facts on the ground. What the insurgents do because they want to establish new bases is that they enter bushes where they see people settle and they kill them.' Punch.