By Gabriel Atumeyi
365Daily – The Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has warned that famine is imminent in the state unless its farmers can return to their farms.
Mr Zulum, who said this while speaking with BBC Hausa Service on Wednesday, added that the situation has become pathetic as thousands of refugees who have returned to their communities have no food and cannot cultivate their farmland.
“No insecurity is worse than food insecurity. Without food to eat terrible things can happen. We have reached a situation that if people are not allowed to farm, they can kill themselves and eat,” Mr Zulum, a professor, said.
“Borno is now experiencing food insecurity. We cannot wait for things to get perfect for people to go to farm, we need to be resilient to Boko Haram attacks. We cannot accept a situation where five or 10 gunmen can dislodge a town with over ten thousand dwellers,” the Governor said.
”People cannot be allowed to die of hunger and our children not going to school, that cannot happen,” Mr Zulum added.
The Governor commended non-governmental organisations for giving support, saying they have done their best but are no longer providing food assistance because they are overwhelmed.
He further stressed that people have to return to their communities to farm and transact businesses.
Nigeria’s North-east region has been enmeshed in a bloody insurgency for over a decade which has resulted in thousands of deaths and mass displacement of residents in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.
Attacks on peasants communities in the region have continued despite claims by the government that the insurgency had been defeated.