Bandits Demand N40m From Kebbi Farmers To Access Farmlands

Kebbi farmers face a N40m levy from bandits to access farmlands, raising fears of food insecurity and rural community control.

Kebbi farmers unable to access farmlands due to N40m bandit levy demand

A disturbing reality is unfolding in Kebbi State. Armed bandits are holding local farmers to ransom. They are demanding a staggering N40 million before the farmers can even step onto their own farmlands to plant crops this season.

This shocking extortion is happening in Bena, a community within the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area. The farming season should be a time of hard work and hope. Instead, it has become a time of fear and negotiation.

The news was broken on Saturday by Bakastine, a trusted security analyst and crisis journalist. He shared the troubling details on his X handle, expressing deep concern over how vulnerable rural communities remain in the hands of ruthless armed groups.

Panic has since spread through the area. Some terrified families have already abandoned their homes, fearing that the bandits will make good on their threats. Others who have stayed behind are too scared to return to their fields.

This situation has only piled more pressure on a region already struggling with constant attacks and a very weak security presence. Locals say the tension is becoming unbearable.

Sadly, this is part of a deeply worrying trend across the North-West. Armed groups now routinely impose levies on rural communities just to allow farming activities. In local terms, people call it "taxation" or "peace arrangements."

But these forced deals never bring lasting peace. They only trap the villagers in a cruel cycle of intimidation and forced compliance. You pay today, but there is no guarantee you will not be attacked tomorrow.

Security analysts are sounding the alarm. They warn that giving in to these demands only emboldens the criminals. It expands their control over rural settlements and fills their pockets to buy more weapons.

There is also a massive threat to the nation's food supply. If farmers cannot safely access their land, agricultural output will crash. This outright extortion threatens to worsen the already dire food security situation in the country.

Bakastine raised a very sobering point about the balance of power. If farmers must pay bandits before they can cultivate their own land, who truly controls these communities? It is a question that should keep every security chief awake at night.

For now, the silence from the authorities is deafening. Security operatives are yet to issue any official statement on the N40 million demand. This leaves the fate of the Bena farmers hanging by a thread, uncertain of what the coming days will bring.