Following reports of attacks and killings of farmers in the North Central zone of Nigeria, particularly in Benue and Tababa States by Fulani herdsmen, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice F.S Tabian has raised alarm that such killings and attacks would result to food scarcity in the country.
Tabian who made this known in an interview with airport correspondents at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, recently noted that farmers would be unwilling to risk their lives farming since no serious efforts had been made yet by the federal government, to stop or control the menace.
He said, to the best of his knowledge, that no arrest had been made, and that the herdsmen appear to have immunity on their activities since none of them had been arrested or brought to justice.
According to the retired jurist, some of the farmers are people who have retired from government services, and have not been paid their gratuities and other benefits.
“The food security we are talking about in this country might be endangered, not because of any other thing, but the security situation. To me, it is one of the greatest challenges to farmers.
“The weather is good, we have rainfall, but the farmers are afraid because of the herdsmen operations against them and they would not like to risk their lives.
“I remember we have one of the best species of yam, which we call “Gboko Yam” in Benue, but right now in the market that yam is scarce, because many of them did not farm.
“Then you can imagine now that the killing has intensified, what the next harvest season will look like, which point to the fact that there might be scarcity.
“You cannot do extensive farming in the comfort of your home or in your compound, but you have to go all out to the bush, and the Fulani herdsmen are out therein the bush to kill.
“Many of the retirees who have not been paid pension, gratuity and other entitlements, have engaged in farming, but they cannot risk their lives just because they want to farm”, Tabian said.
The retired Supreme Court Judge however, blamed the non development of the agricultural sector to dependence on oil revenue, saying that government has not taken agricultural developement seriously, because of the oil revenue it gets.

Corlins Walter