AFRICA/NIGERIA - "Attacks on farmers are likely to lead us to hunger" denounces the Bishop of Awka

Thursday, 18 June 2020 violence   hunger   bishops  

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "Attacks by herdsmen against farmers are a severe threat capable of increasing hunger in the country" said His Exc. Mgr. Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor, Bishop of Awka. "We all know the economic implication of not having farm produce, which is that the prices of food items will increase and hunger will become the order of the day for large sectors of the population", said Bishop Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor, referring to the attacks on farmers .
"We condemn the killing and harassment of innocent citizens in their farms on some agro communities across the Country. Some farmers are now scared of going to their farms to avoid being murdered by killer herders", said Mgr. Ezeokafor on Sunday, June 14 while presiding Mass.
Mgr. Ezeokafor called on the Nigerian government to take appropriate measures to stop the massacres: "I appeal to the federal government to end all forms of killing of innocent citizens in the country, including those who work on farms to produce food for our people".
The Association of the South East Town Union, ASETU, had in the letter told the governors that "in the south-east and in other parts of Nigeria, we have witnessed the killings and rape of our people by herdsmen.. People are now afraid to farm in their interior farms in their ancestral land".
Last week over 260 people were killed in various attacks in Nigeria by both Boko Haram and gangs of armed herdsmen, mainly in the northern region.
According to the Security Tracker of Nigeria, which catalogs violent incidents caused by political and socio-economic grievances, the State of Borno, with 114 deaths, recorded the highest number of victims, followed by the State of Katsina, where 75 people were killed . (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 18/6/2020)


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