Some farmers in Difa community in the Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State have expressed concerns over the continued hippopotamus attacks ravaging their farmlands.
The farmers, who spoke in on Friday in the community, said incessant hippos’ attacks exposed them to losses and threatened food security effort of the government.
Mr Ali Umaru, a retired civil servant and farmer from Difa community said the yearly impact of hippos’ attack on farmland in their community had become unbearable and “extremely frustrating.”
Umaru said the animal had found comfort in Difa community because some part of the community was on the river bank and just two kilometres away from Dadin Kowa dam.
He said the animal which come in large number were fond of encroaching on their farmlands to eat and destroy crops planted by farmers especially during the dry season.
“They (Hippopotamus) come in the night mostly in a group of 10 to eat our rice, okro, water melon and others and retire from our farm by 6am and go back to their hiding places.
“This is very painful because the damage is pushing farmers into poverty and reducing the food that should have been sold to humans.
” The menace is really retrogressing effort at ensuring food security because farmers who cultivated 50 hectares may end up harvesting only 20 hectares, losing 30 hectares in some cases.”
