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Some dry-season farmers in the Malleri community in the Kwami Local Government Area of Gombe State have complained that the hippopotamus is destroying their farmlands.
In separate interviews at the community on Tuesday, the farmers said incessant attacks by the hippos have exposed them to huge losses, the New Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports.
According to Hussaini Malleri, who has been farming in the area for the past 25 years, it has become difficult for the farmers to make a profit.
“We are not happy; hippos are attacking our farmlands. On Thursday, over 20 farmers lost Okro and rice plantations to the hippos.
“The animals swept through farmlands, feeding on rice, beans, okra, and other vegetables.
“Considering the high cost of inputs and the incessant hippos’ attack on farmlands, it is difficult for us to make a profit,” he said.
Mr. Malleri lamented that the farmers had made fruitless reports to the authorities regarding the attacks.
“We can’t kill hippos because we love them too; we want them to be restricted to protect our means of livelihood," Malleri said.
A rice farmer, Abdullahi Mohammed stated that the persistent hippos attacks have made crop production less attractive to young people.
“Accessing farm inputs is difficult due to exorbitant prices; however, after cultivating your crops, hippos will eat and destroy it," Mohammed said.
Yusuf Ibrahim, another farmer called on the state government to address the problem.
“Previously, some people from the Gombe metropolis cultivated farmlands and engaged youths in the community, but they stopped coming due to hippos-related loses,” he said.
Reacting to the development, the director-general, of press affairs of the Government House, Gombe, Ismaila Uba-Misilli, said that the state government is committed to safeguarding the citizens' lives and properties.
However, he noted that the affected farmlands were under the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority (BRBDA).
“We have taken conscious steps towards finding a lasting solution to this issue to ensure that humans and hippos cohabit peacefully without causing harm to each other," Uba- Misilli said.
Agriculture. Environment.
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