Whitey Ford
06-10-2023, 09:37 PM
Kidnap gangs drive big-time Nigerian farmers away
https://i.imgur.com/HBFYpUK.jpg
In 2012, Mr Williams left his career as a banker and ventured into agriculture. He was profiled in international media and described as the second-largest producer of rice in Nigeria, with thriving farms across the north.
But the threat to his life and the lives of his workers grew too much.
"There was a time my car was shot at on my way back from the farm," he said. "There were also kidnap attempts."
In the past three years, a sharp rise in insecurity has led to gangs kidnap hundreds of people for ransom in Nigeria, and staff of prosperous agricultural enterprises have been particularly targeted, forcing many farms to abandon or reduce operations.
More than 350 farmers were kidnapped or killed in the 12 months up to June 2022 alone, according to a Nigerian security tracking website.
All this wonderfully enriching culture diversity will just end up migrating here through our open borders. Luck us! Weeeez migrants, weeez hongree.
In January 2022, five people were killed in an exchange of gunfire between security agents and armed gunmen on motorbikes, gang members known locally as "bandits", who attacked the premises of GB Foods, a tomato-processing plant in the north-western state of Kebbi.
When the multi-million-dollar factory, partly funded by the central bank, had launched to great fanfare in 2020, it was described in the media as Nigeria's second-largest food processing plant and included the country's largest tomato farm.
Bandits then tried to kidnap some of the staff. They failed, but the plant has been out of operation since.
All that progress now seems to be unravelling, with nearly 25 million Nigerians at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023, according to the UN.
"We've lost about 300 farms," said Stella Thomas, who in 2011, at the age of 32, founded Techni Seeds. Based in the north-western city of Kano, the company applies scientific research to produce quality seeds that it then distributes to thousands of farmers across Nigeria, whose work they supervise from planting to harvesting, to ensure maximum yield.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kidnap-gangs-drive-big-time-nigerian-farmers-away/ar-AA1cnZrY?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=ef6ca50d5a2144eed21f443ed0e291ce&ei=15
https://i.imgur.com/HBFYpUK.jpg
In 2012, Mr Williams left his career as a banker and ventured into agriculture. He was profiled in international media and described as the second-largest producer of rice in Nigeria, with thriving farms across the north.
But the threat to his life and the lives of his workers grew too much.
"There was a time my car was shot at on my way back from the farm," he said. "There were also kidnap attempts."
In the past three years, a sharp rise in insecurity has led to gangs kidnap hundreds of people for ransom in Nigeria, and staff of prosperous agricultural enterprises have been particularly targeted, forcing many farms to abandon or reduce operations.
More than 350 farmers were kidnapped or killed in the 12 months up to June 2022 alone, according to a Nigerian security tracking website.
All this wonderfully enriching culture diversity will just end up migrating here through our open borders. Luck us! Weeeez migrants, weeez hongree.
In January 2022, five people were killed in an exchange of gunfire between security agents and armed gunmen on motorbikes, gang members known locally as "bandits", who attacked the premises of GB Foods, a tomato-processing plant in the north-western state of Kebbi.
When the multi-million-dollar factory, partly funded by the central bank, had launched to great fanfare in 2020, it was described in the media as Nigeria's second-largest food processing plant and included the country's largest tomato farm.
Bandits then tried to kidnap some of the staff. They failed, but the plant has been out of operation since.
All that progress now seems to be unravelling, with nearly 25 million Nigerians at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023, according to the UN.
"We've lost about 300 farms," said Stella Thomas, who in 2011, at the age of 32, founded Techni Seeds. Based in the north-western city of Kano, the company applies scientific research to produce quality seeds that it then distributes to thousands of farmers across Nigeria, whose work they supervise from planting to harvesting, to ensure maximum yield.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kidnap-gangs-drive-big-time-nigerian-farmers-away/ar-AA1cnZrY?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=ef6ca50d5a2144eed21f443ed0e291ce&ei=15