South-West: Bandits, herders’ invasion puts 40% of region’s food production at risk

• A silent reign of terror in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun and Oyo interior
• I have abandoned 10-hectare farmland due to insecurity, says Olafeso
• FG cannot continue to turn a blind eye to killings in S’West, Middle-Belt, others, Gani Adams says

Insecurity in the South-West region and bandits’ invasion of the interior forests may have put about 40 per cent of food produce at risk.

The region that is traditionally known for routine harvests of rice, yam, cassava, cocoyam, plantain, and seedlings has begun to see a sharp decline across subsistence and commercial farm settlements, with farmers and investors shutting down farms while blaming clashes with “stranger” herders, bandits and growing uncertainty in their neighbourhoods.

Residents said while the apprehension is not unique to the region, the emerging conflicts and casualty toll are fast becoming unprecedented across agrarian suburbs in Ondo, Oyo, Osun and parts of Ekiti and Ogun states.

Farmers told The Guardian that activities in parts of the region have reduced by almost half due to the killings of farmers and general apprehension among survivors of recent attacks.

While there is an attendant fear of proportional reduction of food harvest at year-end, the U.S. Agriculture Department earlier projected an eight per cent decrease in Nigeria’s corn production for the 2024-25 marketing year, attributing the decline to security concerns, high input costs, and reduced government support.

In Iwajowa Local Government Area of Oyo State, findings showed that 74.67 per cent of arable crop farmers were affected by nomad-farmer conflicts, leading to 54 per cent of them experiencing food insecurity.

The U.S. report revealed that over 1,356 farmers lost their lives between 2020 and Q1 2024 due to bandit attacks, with several farms destroyed by grazers nationwide.

Similarly, the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III Project (FANTA) in 2024 estimated that in Ondo and Osun states, 61.44 per cent of smallholder farming households were severely food insecure, while 35.73 per cent were moderately food insecure. Only 1.80 per cent were food secure in recent times.

Tales of grief, fatalities
For instance, the recent farmers-herders crisis in Ondo has forced some farmers to abandon their farmlands and farm settlements.

While the crisis claimed the lives of about 21 farmers and various farm settlements were destroyed, security intelligence also decried the influx of weaponised “stranger herders and bandits” from the Northern part of Nigeria, especially through the Oyo, Kogi, and Kwara corridors, and now making new homes in South-West forests.

The Simon brothers – Solomon and John – were among the survivors of the attack on some farming settlements in the Akure North Local Council Area of Ondo State.

The siblings, in their early 30s, had for years engaged in farming on Aba Sunday within the Ala Elefosan axis of the council, where they usually anticipate bountiful harvests to guarantee food security in the state.

Residents claim that their passion for agriculture was dampened and cut short following the invasion of their camp by armed herders, who not only abducted and killed over 20 farmers, but also destroyed all they had laboured for over the years.

Although Aba Sunday was one of the four farming settlements situated in one of the state’s agrarian belts that was attacked in the early hours of March 8, 2025, other communities affected include Aba Pastor, Ademekun Camp and Aba Alajido.

While residents were still grieving over the incident, the armed herders struck again on March 19, 2025. This time around, they invaded another farming settlement in ‘Aba Oyinbo’, Akure North Local Council Area of the state, during which five farmers were killed in the horrifying attack.

Earlier, on January 30, 2025, five farmers were killed by herders in the Ajegunle-Powerline community in the Akure North Local Council Area of Ondo State.

Infuriated by the kidnappings, killing spree and alleged refusal of the state government to admit the magnitude of the insecurity bedevilling the state, farmers and residents lately stormed the Governor’s Office in protest.

The rich also cry
A prominent stakeholder in the region, Dr Eddy Olafeso, who owns 10 hectares of land, on which he produces cassava, cocoa, yam, plantain and other crops, said, “I must confess to you that I’ve abandoned the farmland because of insecurity.

“I am talking to you from firsthand experience. No farmer can go to his farm in Ondo any longer with peace of mind. The administration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has not been honest about addressing the situation. I implore the media to do a proper investigation to unravel the number of farmers who can no longer go to their farms in Ondo.”

Olafeso lamented that if urgent steps are not taken to address the development, what Ondo is contributing to the food basket of the nation will be reduced by next year.

“I can also say there is a possibility of an imminent food crisis next year, considering the ongoing farmers-herders’ insurgencies in the South-West and the North Central.”

Narrating their ordeal, one of the farmers, Akin Olowolafe, said the attack had been recurring with the constant invasion of their farmlands by cattle and armed herders.

Further findings by The Guardian showed that cases of herders’ invasion of farmlands and clashes are also prevalent, mostly in Ibokun, Ejigbo, Esa-Oke, Ago-Owu, Oke-Ila, Ikire, Ikirun, communities near Osun and Kwara State boundaries, amongst other places.

Samuel Ajidara, a cassava farmer in Idominasi Community, located along Osogbo-Ilesa road, said, “My 10-acre farm was overrun early this year by herders as cassava tubers were uprooted to feed their cows. I got to the farm the following day only to discover the terrible and frustrating incident.”

Another farmer, Kazeem Olaribigbe, resident in Ibokun community of Ibokun Local Government Area of Osun State, who specialises in cultivating plantain, lamented the ravaging of his farm late last year by herders’ cows, pointing out that he lost millions of naira investment during the incident.

Similarly, in February, some herders attacked Kajola Village in Atakunmosa East Local Government of Osun State.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State happened to be one of the critical stakeholders to raise the alarm over the rising wave of insecurity in his state and the Southwest, particularly the presence of the migrating criminals into the state.

“During my birthday retreat, bandits had camped less than two kilometres from where I was staying. This underscores the seriousness of the situation,” the governor stated.

In a somewhat proactive step, the Oyo State Security Council read the riot act to all illegal miners, bandits, illegal migrants, cultists and other men of the underworld to desist from the acts.

Food basket ravaged by marauders, laid-back authorities
The South-West region is a major food basket in the country, accounting for between 15 to 30 per cent of farm produce.

The National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, estimated that the Southwest zone contributed 7.94 million and 8.12 million metric tonnes of yam to 53.40 million and 54.58 million metric tonnes of the national food basket in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The region also accounted for 13.36 million and 13.64 million metric tonnes of cassava in 2023 and 2024. The zone produced 1.67 million (2023) and 1.45 million metric tonnes of maize in 2024.

The immediate past chairman of the Ondo State Agricultural Commodities Association (OSACA), Olugbenga Obaweya, said that besides the growing risk to farm produce, there would also be a loss of employment for both entrepreneurs and their workers, which will result in lower production volumes and, in turn, lead to higher prices.

Obaweya said it is worrisome that despite the investments in Amotekun Corps and the Anti-Open Grazing Bill signed into law by the former administration of Governor Gboyega Oyetola in September 2021, cases of herders’ invasion and associated calamities continue in Osun State.

A Department of State Security (DSS) officer based in Oyo State said the governors of the region need to take proactive measures to checkmate the influx of the marauders into their states, “else it is like sitting on a time bomb”.

Chairman Afenifere Renewal Group, Wale Oshun, warned that if growing challenges of insecurity are allowed to fester in the region, “the consequences will not only be felt in the six states of the Yoruba nation, but also in the entire country.”

According to him, “This zone alone provides a steady market for most of the farm products produced in Nigeria, especially from the North.”

He cited an instance of Mile 12, Agege, Mushin, Oyingbo, Ile-Epo, Mile 2, Oshodi and other markets in Lagos, which absorbed large quantities of farm produce across Nigeria.

Oshun also cited the example of Bodija Market, apparently the biggest food market in the whole of West Africa, saying, the governments of the region must be up to the task to address the issue of insecurity.

Oshun, who’s also into large-scale farming, especially livestock, birds and cattle, said he was forced to abandon the project due to cost and basically insecurity, adding that the farms are no longer safe.

The Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, while responding to the discussion, said insecurity, particularly as it may affect food security soon, cannot be treated in isolation from the South-West.

Speaking with specific reference to the insecurity issues and humanitarian crisis confronting the nation in Ondo, Plateau and Benue States, which have been turned into killing fields in recent weeks, Adams said the barbaric killings outrightly negate the virtues of peace and love, which ought to hold our society together.

He noted that no nation develops because of one section rising up against another in mindless attacks.

Adams condemned the unending activities of armed herders suspected to be behind the killings and kidnappings in the three states referenced, the North Central region and other parts of the country.

He stressed that the resurgence of the violent killings also brings back to the front burner the pressing issue of restructuring the Nigerian polity that would give birth to state and local government police.

“We cannot, because of the political benefits of the federal government, continue to ignore what would be of immense benefit to the rest of the country.

“These insecurity issues go a long way in affecting food security, given the important role Benue, Plateau and Ondo States play in the food production cycle of the nation. The crisis also gives a sense of instability and discourages foreign investors.

“The government at the centre cannot continue to turn a blind eye to these necessary demands. The time to act is now. We must act decisively in the interest of our people,” he said.

Director General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) commission, Seye Oyeleye, acknowledged the ‘invasion’, adding that the situation demands a coordinated approach to the operations of commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders “else it will create more dangers and insecurity in the region in the near future.”

Oyeleye said: “There is also a need for the region to adopt technology to scan trucks bringing in food items from other parts of Nigeria into the South-West. This is to ensure that criminals and terrorists are not loaded with food items on their bikes inside those trucks.

“Security reports have shown that the majority of those we think are our brothers from the Northern part are foreigners from other countries, trooping into the region for ulterior motives. There is no doubt about the fact that our farmers are being threatened on their farmlands at present.”

While Oyeleye refrained from disclosing some of the security plans to address the situation, he said the governors of the region are not sitting idly by about the development as some people are thinking.

He said, “For instance, the Ekiti and Ogun State governments are taking proactive measures to recruit Forest Rangers to combat the situation.”

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