MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) Nigerian farmers say they have lost 3 billion naira ($18.75 million) in food crops in the past three years because of an Islamic uprising in the northeast that has killed hundreds of people.
Muhammed Namadi, chairman of the Borno State Farmers Association, told reporters Monday hundreds of farmers have been killed and many more forced to abandon rice and other crops ready for harvesting or just planted.
Nearly 20,000 farmers have been forced off their land since Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in May declared a state of emergency in Borno and two other northeastern states. Entire villages have been cut off from their farmlands by military roadblocks. Others have been abandoned after attacks by Islamic militants seeking to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria.
