Criticisms trail FG’s decision to deploy soldiers to protect farmers in North

Widespread criticisms have trailed the federal government’s decision to deploy soldiers to protect farmers only in the northern part of the country, with many saying that the development sign-posts the Tinubu Administration’s admission that it lacks both the capacity and the strategy to secure the country for all its citizens and residents to live in peace and security and go about their daily life without fear or favour.

The military had explained earlier today, in a statement by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba who spoke in a phone interview with Daily Sun, that the military decided to deploy soldiers to protect farmers in the North because the North is more affected by terrorism than the south.

“The north is most affected by the issue of terrorists denying the farmers going to farm. Such issues are not prominent in the South,” he said.

General Buba spoke against the backdrop of an even earlier statement that the military has deployed troops in several northern states, to protect farmers.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, in the statement said the deployment was made particularly in the North West and the North Central states, adding that the move has since “enabled several farmers access to farmers for a hitch-free planting season towards a bumper harvest.”

Reacting to the Federal Government’s decision to deploy military men to protect farmers contending with insecurity, an Ogun State-based farmer, Amaka Chukwudum, founder and Chief Executive of Amicable Mondial Farm, said it is a welcome idea but that the initiative should not be limited to the North as farmers in other regions of the country are also battling insecurity.

She said: “It is shocking and sad to hear this because people under my cooperative here in Ondo, Akure are also being attacked and killed by herders in their farms. But I think the government may still be considering replicating the initiative in the South and other parts of the country. The truth is that Northern farmers are facing a serious crisis. For instance, I had to abandon my 10 acres of yam farm in Benue State because of insecurity and the money I invested there is gone. So I believe they are starting from the North due to the critical nature of the crisis in that region.”

Also reacting to the issue, the Coordinator of International Trade for Livestock and Aquaculture, Temitope Oluwadipe, opined that the decision is a laudable one but should be spread across the 36 states of the country as farmers in other states are equally encountering attacks from herders.

For Mr. Greg Nwamadi, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Goldridge BioAgro Ltd., “there is no doubt that insecurity has threatened food security in the country. While looking at how it affects farmers in the North, it is only fair that the government’s action to curb insecurity is not limited to the North. Just as bandits frustrate farmers in the northern states, armed Fulani herdsmen and kidnappers also frustrate farmers in the South. If soldiers are being deployed to protect farmers in the North, the government should also deploy soldiers to protect farmers in the South from armed Fulani herdsmen and kidnappers.”

Courtesy, Daily Sun