The farmers’ boss, who spoke in a paper he presented at the just concluded ‘Statewide Security Conference’ organised by Ekiti Council of Elders, urged the state government “to urgently allocate these areas to farmers to plant crops and ensure food security in the state.”
“These vast of land supposed to be allocated to intending farmers for agricultural purposes now serves as hideouts for hemp planters, dens of killer herders, and subterfuge for all sorts of heinous criminals, such as kidnappers and bandits terrorising the state.
“With all the foregoing, an average Ekiti farmer is exposed to the risk of being murdered, raped or kidnapped by gunmen in the course of providing food security for all and guaranteeing national security.”
Alagbada accused some traditional institutions and political elite of contributing to the menace of insecurity against farmers and residents in the South-West by allocating lands to the herders and buying cows for them to herd.
He said: “The resultant effect is that they (herders) remain permanent on our land, thereby posing threat to the crop farmers and our crops.”