Farmers in the North-West region pay as much as N100,000 to access their farmlands during the planting or harvest season, a new report has said.
The report, titled ‘Levies or Lives – The Dilemma Of Farmers In Northern Nigeria’ by SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused geopolitical research firm, said farmers paid N139.5 million to bandits as levies within a period of four years (2020-2023).
It said the rise in banditry and armed att@cks has disrupted livelihoods and essential service distribution across the Northwest region such as Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and parts of Jigawa.
According to the report, “In recent years, a concerning trend has emerged in some communities affected by banditry in Nigeria. Farmers are now forced to pay levies to bandits to access their farmlands and harvest their crops.
Residents in affected areas reported paying substantial sums ranging from ₦70,000 to ₦100,000 to bandits for permission to farm, with additional payments required for harvesting.
Some go as far as collecting a certain percentage of the harvest, confiscating farmers’ lands, and forcefully co-opting villagers to cultivate the lands, harvest, and sell the farm produce…(continue reading from next slide.)
