Full and part-time farmers are facing difficult times in parts of Adamawa State where thieves are entering farms and harvesting crops.
Crop stealing began to thrive in Adamawa State in the wake of the current food inflation which motivated more residents into farming and which in turn appears to have given crime-minded people the idea to help themselves to the many cropped lands around them.
A lady, Mrs Margret Hosea, who took to farming to get something to eat and to raise money to augment her meagre pay as a private school teacher, told Torizone on Monday that she found herself lamenting a huge and painful loss.
"I went to my maize farm for inspection to see how soon I should start harvesting only to find that people had already done the harvest for themselves," the lady said.
Mrs Hosea who nursed her farm located along the Yola-Fufore road in Yola South Local Government Area, added, "They removed everything! And I spent so much money and time to bring that farm to harvest stage."
Another farmer, Bashir Abdul who owns a farm around Jabi Lamba in Girei LGA, affirmed that stealing from farms has become rampant.
"They haven't raided any of my farms on a large scale, but I have on many occasions noticed piecemeal incursions by people who picked off items that they could quickly get at," he said.
On his part, another farmer, Danjuma Gurin, who cultivated lands in the Fufore LGA, said he was well aware of the menace but that he had been spared chiefly because he works in lands around lived-in places within the towns of Gurin and Fufore.
"I think my farms are too close to people in occupied neighbourhoods for thieves to have the courage to steal from me," Danjuma told Torizone.
Elsewhere in the state, some desperate thieves have been noticed to steal crops before they mature.
A source indicated that this thrives in Wauru Jabbe, a community on the outskirts of Yola North towards the borderline with Yola South LGA.
In the area, the source said, farming now involves a nightly vigil as farmers spend the nights in their farm fields to keep thieves away.
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