Farmers and traders travelling through Bagudo in Bagudu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, yesterday, lamented incessant extortion by security agencies at various checkpoints along the road linking Nigeria with Benin Republic.
From Tsamiya Market, a grain supplier loading a truck with 600 bags of maize or millet, has to pay extortion of not less than N600,000 to be allowed to reach Argungu and Birnin Kebbi.
"We pay N1,000 per 100kg bag of grains loaded in trucks and N500 for a bag on a motorcycle." Tukur Muhammad, Secretary of Amana Farmers and Grains Suppliers Association of Nigeria in the area, said.
He attributed the hike in the prices of farm produce, goods and other essential items to extortion by security operatives in the area.
"Even if you are not carrying anything on your motorcycle, but you going to the market, you have to pay an extortion of N300.
"We are citizens of this country; as farmers and marketers, we are always taking the blame of not doing enough to reduce prices of the essential commodities.
"Unknown to many people, it is not our making. It is this extortion that has been contributing a lot to the hike in prices of commodities," Muhammad stressed.
He urged the state government to enforce its collection of Internally Generated Revenue and prevent all illegal revenue collections and extortions.
"This will serve as a safeguard to all people against illegal collection of revenue and enable the state government to generate what ought to go its coffers," the association's scribe said.
In his remarks, Chairman of the association, Rabi'u Mainasara, also lamented the extortion.
"From Bagudu to Tsamiya, they have mounted 44 checkpoints on the road where each trader or farmer must pay certain amounts of money at every checkpoint before he is allowed to go through.
"The security agencies comprise the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps," Mainasara said.
"Security operatives posted to man Maje, Saranfo and Wara Tsamiya checkpoints on the road to the border with the Benin Republic in Bagudo Local Government Area also extort residents of the area," he also said.
Mainasara appealed to the federal and Kebbi governments, and heads of security agencies concerned to intervene to stop the practice so that people would not resort to self-help.
On his part, Abubakar Usman-Tsamiya, a councillor in the area, lamented that residents were angered by the extortion.
He noted that the people would have revolted but for the intervention of some stakeholders.
"We are calling on Kebbi government to pay attention to this Tsamiya Market.
"This market is an international market that serves people from Nigeria and Benin Republic. The market is congested and it has no space to accommodate the people trooping in for buying and selling."
When contacted, a police spokesman in the state, Nafi'u Abubakar, denied knowledge of the extortion, but said it would be investigated.
"I don't know of that situation but I know there was an incident on Thursday on Bagudu-Tsamiya Road where there was a blockade and members of the public were complaining about extortion by security agencies.
"On hearing about the situation, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Chris Aimionowane, instructed the commander in the area to intervene and the latter acted swiftly to calm the situation. We are still waiting the feedback from our commander in the area," Abubakar said.
Farmers now returning to farms in Niger
Meanwhile, Governo Umar Bago of Niger State said farmers were now returning to their farms in the state, saying "most of them are already back to farm."
Bago informed that he had offered to pilot the planned 500,000 hectares of agricultural production announced by President Bola Tinubu in his New Year message.
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Bago in a statement yesterday after meeting with President Tinubu in Abuja, said Niger State was now the leading state in terms of food security initiative of the president as it had already started the implementation of 250,000 hectares dry season farming.
"We've already signed an agreement with some companies for off-take and just to keep him up to speed with what we're doing in agriculture," he said on his visit to the president.
" The president's New Year's speech, laid emphasis on agriculture and also the 500,000 hectares the government is planning to farm this 2024.
"Niger State has also provided itself as a pilot state for that project, and that we are also ambitious to also match with the Federal Government 500,000 for 500,000."
He said the president was positive about it, adding that he was delighted with what the state was doing.
