Several individuals in Taraba are resorting to pilfering agricultural produce in order to provide sustenance for their families. Communities throughout the state have reported instances of theft involving raw cassava, yam, and maize in recent weeks,leadership report.
In a village situated within the Ardo-Kola local government area of the state, a female farmer named Lami John recounted her experiences. She revealed that she had repeatedly caught her neighbors harvesting cassava from her farm without permission. The initial person she apprehended confessed to taking the cassava not for profit, but to alleviate his family’s hunger.
Lami recounted, “I allowed him to go without reporting the incident to our local leader because I am acquainted with his honesty.”
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Furthermore, Lami detailed additional occurrences of similar nature on her farm, noting that all those apprehended were her neighbors who had resorted to theft solely to provide food for their families.
Further investigations have brought to light that the theft of yams and maize from farms has become widespread across villages in the state.
Another farmer, Ibrahim Suleiman, shared his own account with Daily Trust. He disclosed that he had caught his neighbors red-handed on four separate occasions stealing maize from his farm. Despite the recurrent nature of the thefts, he chose not to involve law enforcement or the local leader.
Ibrahim expressed understanding, speculating that the hardships faced by these individuals may be driving their actions. He pointed out that the thefts were now occurring during daylight hours and those caught in the act readily admitted that poverty and lack of sustenance at home compelled them to resort to stealing from the farms.
