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A farmer in Katsina-Ala LGA of Benue State has been forced to abandon his farm after bandits ordered him to pay N500,000 before he could harvest his farm produce.
The farmer, who has not been named, is a resident of Mbagena Council Ward in Kastina-Ala LGA, where suspected local bandits have allegedly been terrorising residents and imposing levies on members of the community.
His ordeal came to the fore at the capacity-building workshop on Promoting Safety and Security Rights, Accountability and Access to Justice, organised by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in Makurdi.
Speaking at the event, the farmer’s son, John James, said his farmer combines farming with public service.
He said some armed bandits attacked his father at his home two weeks ago, ordered him to pay a N500,000 ransom and gave him three days to raise the money.
James said the deadline was extended to a week after his father told them he could not raise the money in three days because he had not harvested his farm produce.
“About two weeks ago, terrorists invaded his compound in the night where he was sleeping alongside my mother after work.
“They charged him to pay a ransom of N500,000. My father pleaded with them because there was nothing at the moment. He had to plead with them for our lives because contacting the security will only worsen the situation,” he said.
He said his father harvested his groundnut, beniseed, soyabean and other crops and was still struggling to raise the money when the terrorists returned to their compound and abducted his mother.
He said the bandits accused his father of deliberately delaying payment.
James said his mother was eventually freed but not before being tortured by the assailants.
He disclosed that his father managed to raise N200,000 and delivered it to the bandits at midnight on Thursday.
James said the bandits only allowed his father to harvest some of his farm produce after the N200,000 payment, insisting he must pay the N300,000 balance to be able to harvest the rest.
James, a 300-level student of Benue State University (BSU), said his father has fled the area as a result of constant threats, leaving his farm produce at the mercy of the bandits.
“These people are moving freely in our vicinity, and they are local bandits. In fact, some of them are known to the villagers because they are from the same community,” he said.
He further revealed that his father’s case was not an isolated one.
“Other villagers suffer a similar fate regularly. However, it’s the first time my father has been charged a ransom for harvest. But he had been attacked several times where his money and goods were carted away,” he said.
James added that the villagers were reluctant to report to police as those who did were killed by the bandits.
