Farmers in the Malleri community in the Kwami Local Government Area of Gombe State have decried Hippopotamus attacks on their farmlands.
The farmers spoke in separate interviews on Tuesday with newsmen in the community.
One of the farmers identified as Hussaini Malleri who has been in the business for the past 25 years, stated that hippos attacks were a source of concern to the farmers.
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He added that the incessant hippos’ attacks exposed them to losses.
He said:
“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.”
Malleri said the farmers had been reporting the matter to the authorities but to no avail.
“We can’t kill hippos because we love them too; we want them to be restricted to protect our means of livelihood.”
A rice grower, Abdullahi Mohammed, while speaking, revealed that the incessant hippos attacks had made crop production less attractive despite the many youths who engaged in dry season activities.
“Accessing farm inputs is difficult due to exorbitant prices; however, after cultivating your crops, hippos will eat and destroy it.”
Another farmer, Isa Mohammed, urged the government to support farmers in the community to encourage irrigation farming and boost food security.
Mohammed said farmers in the community cultivated over 1,000 bags of rice, lamenting that the incessant animal attack and other challenges impeded production.
For his part, Yusuf Ibrahim said the rampaging animals had forced many youths out of farms due to the destruction of the produce.
He said:
“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 hence pleaded the state government and other relevant authorities to adopt proactive measures to address the problem.
Reacting, Ismaila Uba-Misilli, director-general, press affairs of the Government House, Gombe, said the affected farmlands were under the purview of the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority (BRBDA).
Uba-Misilli reiterated the government’s commitment to addressing any issue affecting state citizens towards improving their livelihoods and protecting lives and property.
“We have taken conscious steps towards finding a lasting solution to this issue to ensure that human-hippos cohabit peacefully without causing harm to each other.”
The DG stated that officials of the Gombe State government, in May 2022, met with Lynne Baker, a United States-based conservation biologist, and some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on how to establish a hippos colony.
According to him, hippos had been classified as vulnerable specie, hence the need to protect and preserve them for posterity.
He said:
“Hippos are threatened and important specie that provides ecological value to the aquatic ecosystem, hence the move by the government to establish the colony and use it as a tourist site.”
