Bandits burn 20 farms, demand N30m levy in Niger

Suspected bandits have set fire to over 20 farms cultivating maize, soya beans, and guinea corn on the outskirts of Kontagora, the headquarters of Kontagora Local Government Area in Niger State.

The perpetrators, leaving ominous notes behind, demanded a hefty N30 million levy from each affected farm owner under the threat of further attacks.

According to a source, individuals who reached out to the provided phone number were informed that their produce had been deliberately set ablaze.

He lamented, “And notices in Arabic with a phone number were hung in our respective farms asking us to pay N30m levy each.”

He lamented that a farm which could yield about 50 bags of maize and another of about 60 bags of soybean were burnt down.

He said his farm had beans and Guinea corn ready for harvesting before it was burnt down.

There has been no response from security operatives on the incident as the state police spokesman could not be reached for comments.