The experts insist that unless urgent and very drastic steps are immediately taken, the crisis may worsen as floods continue to ravage farmlands in the northern states.

Ten states, namely Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Zamfara, Yobe, Sokoto and Kebbi are highly affected, following heavy rainfall in the region.

An agricultural investor in Toro LGA of Bauchi State, Bello Yakazsi, urged the government to declare an emergency in the food sector across the country.

Yakazsi, said, “While the situation we are currently experiencing in the North can be said to be a peculiar one, it is high time that the Federal Government declared a state of emergency in the country’s agricultural sector.

“We have limited powers over the strange and dynamic play of Mother Nature but the little efforts we can muster to save ourselves from hunger and starvation must be put in place by all the government agencies. This is not the time for politics.”

As a result of the effect of the twin threat of flood and drought, some farmers in Kano State, especially those within the 14 LGAs that are at a high risk of flooding as predicted by the National Emergency Management Agency, have continued to express fears about possible flooding in the state and have begun praying against flooding as rainfall persists across the 44 Local Government Areas.

One of the farmers in Rimin Gado, Mallam Musa Sani, told The PUNCH, “Since the beginning of August, we’ve been experiencing heavy rainfall, which lasts for long hours, on a daily basis.

“As you know, too much rainfall does not allow crops to grow speedily. So, we fear that once flood occurs, farmers are at the risk of losing their crops.”

An official of the State Emergency Management Agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed to The PUNCH on Saturday that “even though the agency has yet to receive the comprehensive report on the flood from our assessment team, we are very worried about the situation but, we cannot act without any official report.”

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency, Dr. Haruna Mairiga, told our correspondent in Dutse that over 2,744 hectares of farmlands had been washed away by flood in Jigawa State. The floods ravaged 12 LGAs, namely Buji, Kafin Hausa, Auyo, Hadejia, Birniwa, Malam Madori, Garki, Taura, Gwaram, Dutse, Kiyawa and Jahun.

“No fewer than 2,744 hectares of farmlands have been washed away by the flood across the 12 affected LGAs. From August 1 to 13, 2024, the state witnessed intermittent downpours leading to several incidences of flood and the death of 21 persons as well as the destruction of farmlands and houses,” Mairiga said.

He added that farmers in the state had lost over N1bn of farm produce and crops to flood.

Mansur Musa, Chairman of Kiyawa LGA, one of the worst-hit LGAs, said many farmlands and villages, as well as the LGA secretariat, have been submerged by water.

In Zamfara State, Shehu Shinkafi, a farmer on the outskirts of Shinkafi LGA told The PUNCH that many farmers were expecting a bumper harvest following the stability of water in their farms.

However, he expressed fears following the emergence of heavy rains in the state in recent times.

According to a report by NEMA, more heavy rainfall is expected in the state.

The agency had predicted that eight LGAs in the state ­- Bungudu, Gummi, Gusau, Bakura, Maradun, Talata-Mafara, Shinkafi, and Zurmi – would be affected by flooding during this year’s rainy season.

This was disclosed by the agency’s Director-General, Zubaida Umar, in Gusau during the sensitisation programme for the 2024 downscaling of flood early warning strategies for early actions.

Also, the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency predicted that in this year’s annual flooding outlook, 31 states with 148 LGAs would be within the high flood-risk areas, while 35 states, including the FCT and 249 LGAs, were considered within the moderate flood-risk areas. The remaining 377 LGAs were forecasted for the low flood-risk areas.

Several sources told our correspondent on Monday night that the gunmen, numbering about six invaded the Jauro Manu community and killed one Musa Iramiya a businessman and farmer at about 4:30 pm on New Year’s Day before proceeding to attack other residents, leaving at least five persons dead.

Musa Yakubu, a resident of the community said that the community has not been attacked until New Year, adding that the fresh threat by the bandits has sent fears to the community as residents were contemplating fleeing the community to Mutum-Biyu, the local government headquarters

Yakubu said “There is tension and confusion in the community. Residents are now living in fear.Many residents are considering leaving the community to Mutum-Biyu for fear of attacks. But I want to appeal to the security agencies to increase surveillance in the area”.

Taraba State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Usman Abdullahi said that he was yet to get a brief from the Divisional Police Officer of the area.

Abdullahi, however, promised to get back to our correspondent but was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

A militia of Islamic Fulani herdsmen murdered Christians as part of an aggressive and strategic land-grabbing strategy across the Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Southern Kaduna and parts of Bauchi state, the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), a British non-profit run by a member of the British House of Lords, Baroness Cox, reported.

“They attack rural villages, force villagers off their lands and settle in their place — a strategy that is epitomized by the phrase: ‘Your land or your blood,'” the report said. “In every village, the message from local people is the same: ‘Please, please help us! The Fulani are coming. We are not safe in our own homes.'”

“In every village, the message from local people is the same: ‘Please, please help us! The Fulani are coming. We are not safe in our own homes.'”

— Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust report

The report, published Nov. 18 but circulated this month, is titled “Your Land or Your Body.” It also estimates about 6,000 Christians have been killed by members of the Fulani ethnic group since 2015 and another 12,000 displaced, according to a copy obtained by The Christian Post.

Nomadic Fulani herdsmen “seek to replace diversity and difference with an Islamist ideology which is imposed with violence on those who refuse to comply. It is – according to the Nigerian House of Representatives – genocide,” Baroness Cox told the Christian Institute.

“Something has to change — urgently,” Cox also told Christian Today. “For the longer we tolerate these massacres, the more we embolden the perpetrators. We give them a ‘green light’ to carry on killing.”

Tensions over land-scarcity have been rising in Nigeria as the Sahara Desert continues to expand and the population is on the rise. Predominantly Christian communities remain the target of land-grabbing attacks, suggesting “religion and ideology play a key part” in the Fulani herdsmen’s motive.

The Fulani herdsmen are responsible for the majority of the Christian deaths in Nigeria in 2019. About half of the Christian deaths this year occurred in five separate attacks in Kaduna between January and November, the report said, according to Christian Today. Christians are also being killed by Boko Haram, a jihad terrorist group, in the Borno state, the report said. The exact death toll is not known.

“The attacks have, on occasion, led to retaliatory violence, as communities conclude that they can no longer rely on the government for protection or justice,” the report said. “However, we have seen no evidence of comparability of scale or equivalence of atrocities.”