Ex-governor narrates how bandits sacked him from his 10,000 hectares farmland

Attahiru Bafarawa, a former Governor of Sokoto State has decried the activities of bandits in the north.

Bafarawa while speaking to journalists on Monday, April 29, 2024, said the bandits forced him to abandon his 10,000 hectares of land in Kaduna State.

The ex-governor attributed the high cost of foodstuffs in the country to the activities of bandits in the region, adding that farmers now seek permission from them before going to their farms.

He also said the farms to be cultivated in his community are determined by bandits.

“I used to have farmland, which is over 10,000 hectares in Birni Gwari of Kaduna State. I have been cultivating that land since 1979, but I cannot reach there now because of the bandits.

“The maize I produced that time is in commercial quantity that, I used part of it for my flour mill which is also out of production. The issue of insecurity is behind the high cost of food items because many farmers have been displaced,” Bafarawa said.

He said he had once warned the Federal Government of the impending food insecurity in the country, but his advice was not taken.

“There was a time I warned the federal government about the impending food insecurity in the country but my advice was ignored,” Bafarawa said.

The ex-governor, therefore called for collaborative efforts among the three tiers of government to tackle insecurity in the north, saying “state governments cannot do it alone without the support of the Federal Government.”

Bafarawa served as the governor of Sokoto State from 1999 to 2007.