A farmer in Kastina-Ala LGA of Benue State has reportedly fled his community after suspected bandits demanded N500,000 before allowing him to access and harvest his crops.
His son, John James, a 300-level BSU student, disclosed this at a SERAP safety and security workshop in Makurdi.
James said the farmer, who combines public-sector work with farming, was attacked at home about two weeks ago. The attackers demanded N500,000, giving him three days, later extended to seven, to pay after he explained that he needed to harvest groundnut, beniseed and soyabean to raise the money.
“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 would only worsen the situation.”
The attackers later abducted his mother while James’ father was attending a burial. She was released after an abductor pleaded for her freedom.
“She was freed but not without being tortured. As I talk to you now, my mother is suffering emotionally and physically from the pains she suffered in the course of the torture,” he said.
The farmer raised N200,000 from friends and relatives and paid it at midnight on Thursday, but the bandits demanded the balance before allowing him to harvest.
“When my father returned and handed them the money, they said it was not enough, that he had to complete it to N500,000 before he would be allowed to harvest anything from his farm,” he said.
“They are still threatening my father for the remaining amount, and he is on the run for fear of the unknown. He can’t go back to harvest everything now until he gets all the money,” James added.
“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.
James said other villagers had also suffered attacks, theft and intimidation.
“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.
“The villagers hardly report to the police because those who attempted were killed by the bandits,” he alleged.
