Crime
Reign of terror: 165 farmers killed, farms deserted as bandits demand N3bn
Out of the 165 farmers killed this year, the highest number was recorded in Benue State, where 130 of them were killed by the bandits.
The Association of Nigerian Farmers in the state told The PUNCH on Tuesday that 130 farmers were killed by bandits in four local government areas of the state this month (March). Also, in Sokoto State, 28 farmers have been killed since the beginning of the year, while six farmers lost their lives in Niger State during bandits attacks. One farmer was murdered by bandits in Plateau State.
In Sokoto State, the association lamented that not less than N3bn had been paid by its members as ransoms to bandits, who kidnapped them from their farms.
There has been an upsurge in banditry recently with over 295 victims being held hostage by kidnappers in Sokoto, Kaduna, and Borno states.
Lamenting the implications on farming The Benue State Chairman of the AFAN, Aondongu Saaku, told The PUNCH that six farmers were kidnapped in the state in the last two weeks.
According to him, farmers lost over N1.1bn to bandits’ attacks in the last few months in Benue State.
Saaku said, “The figure I will give you is for March alone so you can know the gravity of what farmers in the state are passing through.
“Six farmers were kidnapped in their farms. No fewer than 130 farmers were also killed in Kwande, Ukum, Agatu, and Apa LGAs.”
Asked to quantify what his members might have lost, the Benue State AFAN chairman replied, “It’s difficult to quantify because how do we quantify those farm crops that were harvested and burnt by the bandits?
“It’s huge. We will be talking about something around N1.1bn, because many farmers lost the whole farm, some over 100 bags of rice, several thousands of tuber of yams and the seeds, cassava chips, corn and a host of others.”
Saaku stated that going to the farm now was between life and death, “because in as much as one doesn’t have another source of income, you have to risk it and go to the farm. If you are caught and killed, that is your fate; and if you go and come back alive, it’s your luck.”
He, however, called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on security, warning that Nigerians were at risk of heavy famine shortly if nothing is done to arrest the insecurity plaguing the country.
Farmers in Borno State noted that the production of sorghum and other crops had fallen by 90 per cent in the state.
Eight Delta farmers
On their part, farmers in Delta State stated on Tuesday that about eight of them were kidnapped last week and paid between N1m and N5m each as ransoms.
Farmers in Ika North-East and Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State said they could not access their farms following the incessant kidnapping in the state.
A farmer, Mr Okwudili Uti, in the Ute-Okpu community, said, “My brother we passing through hell now, as I speak we cannot go to farm again. The kidnappers have been kidnapping our people.
“In Ute-Okpu, Ute-Erumu, Abavo and communities around the Ika North-East, recently when the kidnapping started, we usually go to farms in groups. But last week, about eight farmers were kidnapped, and some paid ransoms of between N1m and N5m.
“Our farm produce have all gone bad in the farms because we cannot go to the farm even in groups, due to the fear of being kidnapped.”
The Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Delta State, Mr Rechard Asemina, said virtually all the farmers in the state could not access their farms.
“Currently, not only farmers in Ika North-East and Aniocha South but also those in Ugheli, Abraja, and other places cannot access their farms. We don’t know what to do now. We are appealing to the government to come to our aid because we are in trouble in Delta State.
“Even those who summon courage and manage to get to their farms, find out that your farm produce has been damaged by cows.’’
Sokoto loses over N3bn
Also, the Chairman of AFAN in Sokoto State, Jamilu Sanusi, said members lost over N3bn to ransom payments to bandits in the state.
He also explained that over 80 per cent of people in the internally displaced persons camps in Sokoto were farmers.
Sanusi stated, “We are the major people who suffer most when we talk of these bandits’ activities in the state. Over 80 per cent of those people you see at the various IDP camps are farmers who are all displaced by the activities of the so-called bandits.
“If I have to give you a rough estimate of how much money we have paid to these people in the past two years, it should be more than N3bn.
“This is apart from what we are losing on each farming season as a result of our people who have to abandon their farms and relocate to IDP camps for fear of being attacked.
“Not less than 10,000 hectares of land could not be cultivated for over three years now, in which in each farming season, a farmer can make up to N1m or more. About 28 farmers have been killed this year. “
Sanusi called on the state government to sustain the tempo of the state security outfit, Sokoto Community Guard Corps, stressing that with their presence in the remote areas, security might improve when compared to what obtained in the past.
In Plateau State, farmers stated that they were constantly under threat of being kidnapped by bandits.
The state Chairman, AFAN, Sako Danboyi, said he was in a meeting when contacted over the issue, but a farmer in Bokkos LGA, Stephen Garuba, confirmed the development.
Garuba said, “I cannot tell you how many of our members have been kidnapped, but honestly, farmers in Bokkos are having a lot of challenges, especially in the area of security.
“We are finding it difficult to go to our farms. In some communities like Yelwa Nunu, the residents who are mainly farmers are yet to return to the community after they were initially chased away by bandits. Even we that are in Bokkos town are not safe either. Some weeks ago, a man was shot dead and his wife was kicked by some hoodlums who attacked his house.
“So, you can understand what we are facing. We are aware of the efforts of the state government to protect farmers and ensure that they go to the farm, but more should be done to achieve the objective.”
The Chairman of AFAN in Jos North LGA, Umar Fodio, expressed hope that with the renewed support to farmers in the state by the state government, farmers would heave a sigh of relief in the coming rainy season.
Farmers in Niger State now avoid their farms in some local governments notorious for bandits attacks.
The farmers adopted this practice as the last option after the bandits operating in those troubled areas persistently attacked and abducted farmers who dared to defy them.
The bandits had also reportedly set farm produce worth millions of naira ablaze and demanded that the farmers must pay levies before they would be allowed to harvest their crops.
Some of these Local Governments include Munya, Shiroro, Meriga, Paikoro, Rafi Mashegu, Wushishi and Borgu. There are 25 local government areas in the state.
In February, this year the bandits reportedly killed six farmers and abducted over 20 women.
In another incident in February, security operatives were said to have rescued 16 farmers kidnapped at Dan-Gunu Community of Munya Local Government Area of Niger State.
The bandits reportedly stormed the community and kidnapped the victims, including pregnant women and children.
Munya LGA Chairman, Abdulhamid Najume, confirmed the attack and explained how the victims were rescued when he said, “We had an emergency security meeting after which we mobilised security operatives and dispersed them to go after the bandits.
“Luckily, they were able to rescue all the kidnapped victims. Currently, they are receiving medical care at a hospital after which they will be reunited with their families.”
A leader of the Rice Farmers Association in Minna, the state capital, Abdullah Imam, said farmers avoid anything to do with those Local Governments known for attacks by bandits.
“No farmer wants to lose his life or even his farm produce. Everyone is avoiding those places. Even farmers whose ancestral homes and farmlands used to be those places have given them up. It is better to lose farmlands than lose one’s life.
“The government and the military must do something to address the problem. These bandits are still there and imagine the vast land in those places. Now farmers don’t want to go near those places because of bandits. This will surely have an impact on the harvest of the coming year because if farmers do not farm on those lands the harvest will not be much,” Imam said.
This came as farmers in Ondo State, under the auspices of the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria, appealed to President Bola Tinubu to find urgent solutions to the incessant bandit attacks on farmers and their produce.
The group lamented the countless number of farmers who lost their lives, while many had been kidnapped on the farms.
Speaking in Akure, Ondo State capital, the National President of the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr Ayodele Ojo, decried the incessant killing of farmers and destruction of their farmlands.
He said, ”We don’t know what is happening. The insecurity in the land is getting out of hand. We want Mr. President to look into it as a matter of urgency. Farmers cannot access their farms to harvest their farm produce even though the produce is due for harvest.
“Bandits have harvested some of the farm products, they kidnap our members (farmers) while we also pay ransom for their freedom.
“Some of the hoodlums are now in control of the farms of some of our members, and we are in a very difficult situation now because we are not allowed to visit our farms again. Many of us have not been to the farms for weeks now because of the fear of being kidnapped.”
Farming declines in Nasarawa
Farmers in Nasarawa State also lamented that the issue of banditry and kidnapping in the state had stopped many of them from going to their farms.
Farmers who were victims of recent attacks in Keana and Nasarawa Eggon local government areas of the state expressed deep concern over the persistent attacks on their communities by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.
They, therefore, called on the security agencies to as a matter of urgency, provide adequate security to communities prone to attacks across the state.
One of the farmers in the Keana LGA, Musa Yamusa, stated that quite several farmers in the area had deserted their homes and completely stopped going to farms as a result of the insecurity in the area.
“What we are passing through in our farms is not easy to describe. The situation is quite pathetic. Before now, we did go to our farms daily but since the insecurity increased in the state, we have not been frequent at our farmlands because we are scared of being attacked by gunmen.
“We need assistance from both the federal and state governments to address the security challenges. They should assist us in this predicament because most of us rely solely on farming. If we do not go to our farms, we will not be able to eat or take care of our families,” he stated.
Another farmer in the Lizzin-Keffi area of Nasarawa Eggon LGA, Alaku Ibrahim, said the activities of bandits in the area had made many farmers lose their valuables, adding that they were most times attacked by the bandits while going to their farms.
Speaking on the security situation in the state, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, said the state government was already collaborating with security agencies to provide adequate security for all residents of the state.
He said, “Insecurity is a thing of concern in almost every state of the federation at the moment. But as a responsible government, we will continue to do everything within our power to collaborate with the security agencies to ensure that all residents of Nasarawa State do not go through any kind of challenge in accessing their farmlands or going about their daily activities.
“Governor Abdullahi Sule is fully ready to serve the people of the state, and I can assure you that the security of everyone in Nasarawa State is a top priority to him.”
In Borno State, though no one could put a figure on the number of farmers killed in the state, it should be noted that in the 2023 farming season, no fewer than 100 farmers were reportedly butchered.
At least 30 of them were slaughtered by the terrorists as they were clearing the fields for the cultivation of crops, as this happened across the local government areas of Jere, Mafa, and Konduga, which surround the Maiduguri metropolis.
The state Chairman of the Sorghum Farmers and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Goni Alhaji Adam, said production of Sorghum in the state had fallen by 90 per cent
“While I can only say hundreds, reported and unreported, have been killed by Boko Haram across the state over the last few years, terror activities have drastically reduced sorghum and related crops production to between 80 percent and 90 percent,” he stated.
The Secretary, AFAN, Ogun State, Mr Abiodun Ogunjinmi, said farmers in the state were currently contending with the problem of indiscriminate grazing by some ruthless herders, stressing that this posed a threat to food security.
Although he noted that the state had not recorded abductions or killing of farmers lately, some herders had through their indiscriminate grazing continued to destroy farmers’ investment in the state.
Kaduna rice farmer
In Kaduna, farmers under the aegis of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, have also lamented over the security challenges in the state.
They said they could no longer access their farms due to insecurity in the state.
Speaking to The PUNCH, Chairman of the Kaduna Chapter of the Association, Alhaji Mohammed Umar Numbu, the security situation had forced their members to stay home for fear of being attacked by bandits.
He stated, “It has instilled fears in farmers such that they can no longer venture into their farms. Most of our members who are about 72,000 cannot go to farms now.’’
This is as the agency said terrorist financiers were opening bank accounts in women’s names as well as using phone numbers for mobile banking or account alerts that are not registered to the account holder or the true beneficiary.
The disclosures are contained in the NFIU’s 2025 Annual Report, obtained by The PUNCH from a top official.
According to the report, the crowdfunding scheme involves foreign-based facilitators using social media platforms to solicit donations under the guise of humanitarian relief or educational support, before moving the funds through multiple layers to terrorist operatives in Nigeria.
The NFIU said hundreds of sympathisers were typically encouraged to make relatively small donations, ranging from $50 to $500, through PayPal pages or conventional bank accounts, with the amounts deliberately kept low enough to evade automated anti-money laundering alerts.
“The following is a case study on Crowdfunding Network identified during the year: A foreign-based facilitator runs social-media campaigns claiming humanitarian relief or educational support and uses encrypted apps (Telegram, Signal) to share links to convincing PayPal pages or standard bank accounts.
“Hundreds of sympathiser donors contribute $50–$500 each, amounts small enough to avoid most automated AML alerts,” the report read.
The funds are subsequently pooled into a “master account” controlled by a senior member of the group living legally abroad.
“When the pool reaches a threshold, that account becomes the hub for onward movement,” the report stated.
The NFIU said the funds were then fragmented into dozens of smaller payments and transferred through International Money Transfer Operators and remittance applications to a network of money mules in Nigeria.
It identified students, small-business owners and relatives among those used as mules, noting that the strategy was designed to avoid reporting thresholds and obscure the origin and destination of the funds.
“Rather than sending one large transfer, the senior member fractures the funds and sends dozens of sub-threshold payments through IMTOs and remittance apps to a network of money mules in Nigeria; students, small-business owners, or relatives, avoiding reporting triggers.
“Upon receipt, the money was either converted to cash, used to purchase dual-use items such as motorcycles, fertilisers and satellite internet equipment, or transferred through mobile banking channels to logistics managers and field operatives,” it added.
The report described the final stage as the “integration” of the funds into terrorist operational financing.
The Unit also identified the use of gender-based proxy accounts as another emerging terrorist financing technique, with terrorists opening bank accounts in women’s names while male commanders or logistics managers secretly control them.
“Terrorist financiers are opening bank accounts in women’s names while male commanders and logistics managers secretly control them.
“They exploit cultural norms that make women less likely to be suspected by authorities, using wives, sisters, or female associates as fronts to distance illicit funds from the true operatives.
“This tactic functions as identity laundering: women’s accounts are managed by men who hold ATM cards, mobile-banking credentials, and PINs, while the women often remain unaware of the transactions and volumes,” the report stated.
The report further revealed that terrorist facilitators were using telephone numbers that were not registered to the account holders or actual beneficiaries for mobile banking and transaction alerts.
It said pre-registered SIM cards, numbers registered to deceased persons and SIMs linked to gender-based proxies were being used to break the connection between bank accounts, SIM cards and Bank Verification Numbers.
“Terrorist facilitators use phone numbers for mobile banking or account alerts that are not registered to the account holder or the true beneficiary.
“They bypass the security link between SIM cards and BVNs by using pre-registered SIMs, SIMs registered to deceased people, or SIMs tied to gender-based proxies. This severs the audit trail: when a transaction is flagged, investigators trace the phone to an unrelated person, letting the real facilitator stay anonymous and continue operations,” it stated.
The NFIU also uncovered sophisticated methods of disguising terrorist transactions through detailed or coded narrations.
It said cells, particularly those linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province, used precise transaction descriptions to maintain what analysts described as an internal accounting system.
According to the report, frequent logistics-related payments with detailed narrations were often sent from a single source to multiple recipients, reflecting a structured financial system within the terrorist network.
“Terrorist cells, particularly those linked to ISWAP, routinely use precise, professional-sounding transaction narrations to maintain internal accounting. Operating like “shadow states” with strict bureaucratic controls, they require detailed descriptions so field commanders can justify expenses to central financial controllers. Although truthful narrations appear counterintuitive, they create an internal audit trail; analysts repeatedly observe high-frequency, logistics-related payments with accurate narrations sent from a single source to multiple recipients,” the report said.
However, the NFIU said some facilitators used innocuous words, secret codes and alphanumeric strings in transaction descriptions, sometimes switching between languages, to conceal the purpose of payments and evade automated bank filters.
“Transaction descriptions employ innocuous words, secret codes, or alphanumeric strings to conceal intent. Facilitators use this coded language, often switching languages to evade banks’ automated keyword filters that flag terms like ‘Jihad,’ ‘Arms,’ or ‘Boko.’
“This practice obscures the true purpose of transfers, preventing detection and enabling continued financing,” it said.
The NFIU said its risk and crime analysis during the year identified an increasingly interconnected threat landscape involving financial crime, technology and cross-border activity.
It noted that fraud remained a dominant predicate offence, with growing cases of Ponzi schemes, fraudulent crowdfunding arrangements, cryptocurrency-enabled investment scams and hacking-related fraud.
The Unit said the schemes increasingly exploited fintech onboarding gaps, including tiered accounts requiring minimal identification, while digital platforms were used to rapidly recruit victims and move funds.
The report also highlighted persistent vulnerabilities in public sector financial management, including the diversion of state and local government funds through accounts belonging to finance officers and associated third parties.
It identified procurement processes and cash transactions as significant risk areas, saying the latter complicated audit trails and efforts to trace illicit assets.
The NFIU said its findings were translated into targeted advisories, executive alerts and strategic intelligence products to support competent authorities, reporting entities and policy responses.
Six suspected members of a gang of gunmen terrorising Amiyi Community and neighbouring towns in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State have been killed by a joint security task force.
The gunmen met their end after security operatives, acting on intelligence gathered over several days, tracked them to their camp around the River Niger creek.
The operation involved personnel of the Nigeria Police Force Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu; Department of State Services (DSS); 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha; Nigerian Navy personnel from Ogbaru; and Agunachamba operatives from the community.
The security team trekked for about four hours through difficult terrain and dense palm forest before reaching the suspected criminal camp.
On sighting the operatives, the gunmen opened fire, triggering a prolonged gun battle.
At the end of the encounter, six suspected members of the group were neutralised, while others fled, some reportedly with gunshot wounds.
Two pump-action guns and charms were recovered from the camps, while structures believed to have been used by the gang were subsequently dismantled.
However, the operation came at a cost, as one security operative was killed and another injured after an explosive device suspected to have been planted in the area detonated.
The injured operative is receiving treatment in a hospital.
The Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Nnanna Oji Ama, commended the security personnel and community-based operatives for their courage and resilience, describing the operation as a demonstration of the importance of intelligence sharing, inter-agency cooperation and community support in tackling violent crime.
He commiserated with the family and colleagues of the fallen operative and wished the injured officer a speedy recovery.
The Commissioner assured residents that security agencies would sustain intelligence-led operations to dismantle criminal camps, recover illegal weapons and prevent armed groups from establishing operational bases across Anambra State.
Operatives of the Enugu State Police Command have rescued three victims of abduction and recovered their Lexus RX350, two locally made firearms and ammunition following a hot pursuit of suspected kidnappers in Enugu.
The operation was carried out by operatives of the Anti-Cultism Sub-Unit of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), with support from members of the Neighbourhood Watch Group and local residents.
According to a statement by the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Daniel Ndukwe, the operation followed credible intelligence received at about 1:30 a.m. on August 18, 2026, while the operatives were conducting crime-prevention patrols along the Port Harcourt Expressway.
The information concerned the carjacking and abduction of occupants of a Lexus RX350 by armed hoodlums in the Independence Layout area of Enugu.
The operatives immediately launched a hot pursuit which led to Hillview Road, Independence Layout, where the suspects abandoned the vehicle and firearms before fleeing into the area.
The three victims were subsequently rescued unharmed and taken to safety with the assistance of Neighbourhood Watch members and other residents.
Police said they recovered one locally fabricated Beretta-like pistol loaded with five rounds of 9mm live ammunition, one locally made cut-to-size firearm and one live cartridge.
Other items recovered were a pair of hand gloves, a ski mask and a mobile phone.
The Command said investigation had been intensified and a manhunt launched for the fleeing suspects, with efforts ongoing to identify and apprehend them, recover additional exhibits and establish their involvement in the crime.
The Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, commended the police operatives, Neighbourhood Watch members and residents for their swift and coordinated response.
Giwa reiterated the Command’s commitment to intelligence-led and community-supported operations against kidnapping, armed robbery, car snatching and other violent crimes.
He also urged residents to remain vigilant and provide the police with timely and credible information that could assist in preventing and solving crimes.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) has arrested a suspect for allegedly swindling 16 job seekers within Enugu metropolis.
The Commandant of NSCDC Enugu State Command, Dr Elijah Willie, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the arrest and investigation on Monday.
Willie said that the suspect collected a total of N6,139,000 from the ignorant and unsuspecting job seekers.
He said that the suspect, Mrs Serah Onyemerela, had been evading arrest by many security agencies until a resourceful officer of the command tracked her down and brought her to the Command.
The Commandant said that the suspect collected the sum of N306,000 from each of the 16 job seekers in the alleged job racketeering or job scam,which totalled N6,139,000.
“On August 12 and 18, 2026, Mrs Love Nnenna Onyema and Mrs Chidimma Ubah, the complainants, reported that Mrs Serah Uchechukwu Onyemerela, the suspect, defrauded them of N770,000 and N424,500 respectively.
“This amount to a total of N1,194,500 from both. However, the ones collected among the remaining people that made up the 16 job seekers at N306,000 each totalled N6,139,000.
“The suspect allegedly promised to assist the complainants in securing employment at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH).
“However, there is evidence indicating a lack of genuine intent, as there are no current job vacancies available, and the suspect has failed to refund the amounts as promised,” he said.
Willie said that on Aug. 17, 2026, the suspect was summoned, tracked and subsequently detained due to her inability to fulfil the conditions of an administrative bail application facilitated by the NSCDC Enugu State Command.
“The suspect has since confessed to the charges of job fraud and obtaining money under false pretences.
“The funds were transferred to a personnel account linked to Mrs Onyemerela Serah Uchechukwu,” he said.
The Commandant also warned job seekers and people seeking for help in any form to ensure no one places them in a condition to pay first before rendering a help.
Willie called on Nigerians, enlightened or not, to see the red flag that any help being offered even in prayer houses and money payment comes before the job or help is “total fraud”.
He said, “Our people should get wise like people in advance world and stop falling prey to swindlers and wicked people who are bent on taking the little they have from them.
“However, the NSCDC has a mandate to take away these unscrupulous elements out of the society for Nigerians to experience peace as well as the trust and bond in the society continue.”
The suspect would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) soon as the NSCDC conclude its preliminary investigations on the matter.
A police inspector has been killed and another officer seriously injured after gunmen allegedly ambushed a joint security team in Jigawa State.
The incident occurred on Saturday, August 22, 2026, after security personnel responded to reports of farmland destruction in Gwaram Local Government Area.
According to a security report obtained by Zagazola Makama, the attack took place at about 3pm in a forested area.
The joint team comprised personnel from Gwaram and Fagam police divisions, the 35 Police Mobile Force and local security outfits. Members of the Vigilance and Community Response Unit (VCRU) and Operation Salama also participated in the operation.
The report said the team had been patrolling the area following recurring complaints involving suspected herders and farmland destruction.
The personnel reportedly came under attack after entering the area, with the assailants said to have used arrows.
Inspector Bukar Wakili, attached to Gwaram Division, was reportedly struck in the face and sustained serious injuries.
Another officer, Inspector Mohammed Shafiu of the VCRU in Dutse, was also injured during the incident.
Both officers were taken to a hospital, where Shafiu was confirmed dead, according to the report.
Bukar was later referred to the Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for further medical treatment.
The identities and affiliation of the attackers have not been independently confirmed, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Additional tactical teams were subsequently deployed to reinforce the security personnel and support efforts to identify those responsible.
Police have opened an investigation into the incident and maintained a security presence in the affected area.
The attack comes amid recurring disputes involving farmers and herders in parts of northern Nigeria, where disagreements over farmland and grazing routes can sometimes escalate into violence.
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