Bandit attacks in Niger and Kaduna disrupt farming and threaten food supply

A long-awaited rain should have brought joy to Khalid Umar and other farmers in the Pandogari district of Rafi Local Government Area in Niger State. In these rural areas, rain makes farmers rush to their fields to spray pesticides and plant seeds. But a recent downpour turned deadly. After the rain stopped on 15 June, armed bandits surrounded the farmlands, forcing Mr Umar to leave his motorcycle and run for his life.

Some villagers were not as lucky. That afternoon, the attackers killed Dauda Galadima, a resident of nearby Ruba village. They also kidnapped five farmers working in the fields, including Nasiru Yakubu and his son, Bilyaminu. After their family paid a ransom of five million naira, they released the father but kept the son for more money.

A similar attack happened the day before. Mr Umar told PREMIUM TIMES that bandits raided a farm on 14 June, killing two farmers and kidnapping four women and a man named Haruna Dattijo. When his mother heard he had been taken, she reportedly collapsed and later died at the hospital.

For small-scale farmers, staying away from the fields is not an option. In these rural areas, farming is the only way to survive. Left to fend for themselves, residents are now creating local security measures to protect their communities and avoid starvation.

“We are setting up local security initiatives to keep farming,” Mr Umar explained. “We assign people to climb the tallest trees to serve as lookouts. Their job is to watch the horizon and warn those working on the ground if they see any suspicious movement towards the fields.”

But even these makeshift early-warning systems are not enough, Mr Umar said. In many parts of the community, farming has come to a halt due to the bandits. He estimated that about half of the farms in the area have been abandoned.

The rising toll

Since this year’s rainy season started, the violence has increased sharply. At least nine people have been killed and around 20 others kidnapped in the Pandogari district.

Mr Umar said the victims come from all walks of rural life. Among those killed was Abubakar Idris, a nurse at Kagara General Hospital, who was shot on his farm. Recently, he added, the community buried two women who were murdered on their family farms.

As the rainy season peaks, the time for planting is running out. Mr Umar warned that without serious changes in security strategy to protect the farming areas, these communities face not just violence but a severe food crisis.

The limit of military operations

While a military base is located in Pandogari town, locals believe its current strategy leaves the surrounding farms vulnerable.

A local resident, Garba Haruna, said the soldiers are stationary, taking a defensive approach instead of carrying out offensive actions in the bush.

“The military base is positioned on the bandits’ main route, blocking them from invading Pandogari town. But knowing this, the bandits have simply changed their route to avoid the military checkpoint,” Mr Haruna explained. “The armed groups are now attacking farms directly, areas where the military cannot protect, and targeting farmers one by one.”

Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State

In June, tragedy hit the Kuyello District of the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area in Kaduna State when armed bandits invaded the Kujijiro farmlands, killing at least nine farmers. Local sources say the victims were on their fields when the heavily armed attackers showed up and opened fire.

Ishaq Kasai, a security expert and community leader, told PREMIUM TIMES that farmers in Birnin Gwari often face death or kidnapping while working their land.

These attacks have disrupted the fragile peace in the Birnin Gwari Emirate, which the government had brokered between armed bandits and crop farmers. The area, known as one of Kaduna State’s main farming regions, is now facing a rise in violent crime.

In another incident on 15 June, armed bandits killed a farmer in Kasuwar Magani, a village in the Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The victim, Baba Bala, known as Sarkin Daji in the community, was also shot on his farm.

On 3 July, in the Birnin-Gwari Emirate, armed bandits attacked local communities, killing at least nine farmers and kidnapping several villagers.

The attacks started around 3 p.m. Residents said the violence began when two armed bandits tried to steal a farmer’s motorcycle.

A resident, Ibrahim Garba, said one bandit was killed.

“The other bandit ran away and returned with a heavily armed gang that launched a brutal attack on farmers nearby, killing nine of them,” Mr Garba shared.

Local authorities confirmed the names of some of the deceased: Habibu Danko, Zaharaddin Gumu, and Maibaka Mayana. Others include Umar Maibaka, Yusufu Dankatakaki, and Shaf’iu Kagadama.

Mr Garba added that this latest massacre followed another attack on 2 July, where armed bandits killed a man named Ya’u Gayam on the Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna Road and stole his motorcycle.

“The situation is becoming unbearable. Our people cannot even go to their farms without risking an attack,” Mr Garba said sadly.

The security commissioners in Kaduna State, Sule Shuaibu, and Niger State, Maurice Magaji, did not answer phone calls or texts from PREMIUM TIMES during this story.

The agricultural sector and challenges

Despite some reported successes, long-standing issues continue to hinder productivity and threaten growth projections for 2026. The main issue facing the sector is ongoing insecurity. The North-west and North-central regions remain particularly dangerous, creating high-risk farming areas. Security breaches have forced many small farmers, like those in Pandogari district, to leave their land, leading to a big loss of cultivated land and potential crop yield.

Even with reports of military success in those areas, farmers struggle to cultivate more land as the country fails to provide real security for rural farming communities. Nigeria’s agricultural sector has great potential and market appeal, but its long-term growth will stay limited until the government secures farming areas and addresses basic infrastructure issues.

Local leaders warn that if the military does not eliminate the bandits and reclaim rural spaces, the total collapse of the farming cycle will drive up food prices and cause widespread hunger.