Benue Farmer Flees Farm After Bandits Demand N500,000 Ransom to Harvest Crops

A Benue State farmer has reportedly abandoned his farm after suspected bandits demanded N500,000 before he could return to harvest his crops in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area.

The farmer, who was not named, is a resident of Mbagena Council Ward in Katsina-Ala LGA, where suspected local bandits have allegedly subjected residents to repeated attacks and ransom demands.

His son, John James, a 300-level student at Benue State University, revealed the ordeal during a capacity-building workshop organised by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in Makurdi.

The workshop focused on Promoting Safety and Security Rights, Accountability and Access to Justice.

James said his father, who works in the public sector while also farming, was attacked at his residence approximately two weeks ago.

According to him, the suspected bandits demanded N500,000 and initially gave his father three days to provide the money.

The deadline was later extended to one week after the farmer explained that he could not immediately raise the ransom because he had not harvested his crops.

James said his father planned to harvest groundnut, beniseed, soyabean and other farm produce to raise the required funds.

“About two weeks ago, terrorists invaded his compound in the night where he was sleeping alongside my mother after work. They charged him to pay a ransom of N500,000. My father pleaded with them because there was nothing at the moment. He had to plead with them for our lives because contacting the security will only worsen the situation,” he said.

The situation escalated when the attackers returned to the family home and abducted James’ mother, allegedly accusing the farmer of intentionally delaying payment.

James said his father was attending a burial ceremony near Katsina-Ala town when the attackers arrived and took his mother away.

She was subsequently released after one of the abductors reportedly intervened, saying she should be freed because she was crying and visibly distressed.

“She was freed but not without being tortured. As I talk to you now, my mother is suffering emotionally and physically from the pains she suffered in the course of the torture,” James said.

N200,000 payment fails to end threat

James said his father sought assistance from friends and relatives and managed to raise N200,000.

He reportedly delivered the money to the suspected bandits at midnight on Thursday.

However, the attackers allegedly told him that the money was insufficient and demanded the remaining N300,000 before he could return to the farm and harvest the rest of his crops.

“When my father returned and handed them the money, they said it was not enough, that he had to complete it to N500,000 before he would be allowed to harvest anything from his farm,” James said.

The continued threats, he added, forced his father to flee the area.

“They are still threatening my father for the remaining amount, and he is on the run for fear of the unknown. He can’t go back to harvest everything now until he gets all the money,” he added.

‘Some of them are known to villagers’

James alleged that the suspected bandits were operating freely in the community and that some residents knew their identities.

“These people are moving freely in our vicinity, and they are local bandits. In fact, some of them are known to the villagers because they are from the same community,” he said.

He described his father’s situation as part of a wider security problem affecting residents in the area.

“Other villagers suffer a similar fate regularly. However, it’s the first time my father has been charged a ransom for harvest. But he had been attacked several times where his money and goods were carted away,” he said.

James further alleged that fear of retaliation had discouraged residents from reporting incidents to the police.

“The villagers hardly report to police because those who attempted were killed by the bandits,” he alleged.

The incident was disclosed during the SERAP workshop in Makurdi, where participants discussed insecurity in their communities and explored ways of demanding accountability, accessing justice and protecting their rights to safety and security.

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