YOU’RE LUCKY IF YOU CAN EAT ONCE A DAY

Out of my forty-nine years, only forty years have been peaceful. The last nine years have been very dangerous, because whatever we gained was lost.

We always have sleepless nights. There was a time we were alerted that bandits were around, so we ran away from the farm. I escaped safely, but my children got injured. Some of them hid, and we didn’t see them. We thought they had been kidnapped. In the evening, with the help of some people, we went to search for them. Luckily, we found them in a hole and brought them back home. They are getting better now, but one of them is still unconscious and we don’t have money to take care of them.

They took away our livestock: one bull, five cattle, one camel, and sheep. I am a businessman and I went to the weekly markets. One time, they blocked the road and took over one million five hundred thousand naira from me as we were returning home from the market.

We stay without food, and our farms have turned into no-go areas here in Anka, as we all know. We don’t know if we will be able to cultivate our farms this year. The issue of three square meals has become a thing of the past. If you are able to have dinner, you are very lucky. Breakfast doesn’t even matter anymore. So, if you want to get a story from us, we ourselves are the story.

We only hear that the government is trying its best to secure us, but we consider it paper talk because there is no physical change. Security personnel always say that they have eliminated the bandits, but after a few days, they return to our community and attack us. That’s why we lost hope.

After they took our livestock eight years ago, I have not recovered to this day, and neither have my wives, children, or neighbours. It was in the afternoon, so we were all around. There was no loss of life in my house during the incident, but they killed some of my neighbours.

Honestly, before the incident, I was taking full responsibility for my family. I was doing everything well. Three square meals were guaranteed in my house. At any time, I had between 100,000 and one million naira. I owned a motorcycle and a car. But now, I have spent six years without even having a bicycle. Whoever looks at us will realise that we are in terrible condition.

We just relocated to Anka. We thought we would be safe, but the story has changed. We have not seen any meaningful action taken by the government.

My family members and I are almost twenty-one in number, but for seven to eight days now, we have not cooked food in the house. And I’m telling you, in my house, one bag of maize can finish within 17 to 18 days. 

Before the emergence of banditry, I carried out my family responsibilities without any disturbances. Even meat was eaten like regular food in my house. No salary earner could compare himself with me. But now we are in serious trouble.

If the government restores peace, we can return; we don’t need anything from them. We only need peace. Even if you ask a small boy, he will tell you he only needs peace. We need peace in such a way that everyone can go to the farm and the market for business. Even yesterday, I was informed that my friend was kidnapped in Nasarawa. They demanded four million naira and a motorcycle before they would release him. Since they didn’t bring the money, they killed him.

I told you, only forty years out of my forty-nine years have been of peaceful coexistence. The remaining nine years have been full of terrible conditions.

We have clashed with them times without number. They even shot me, but luckily I escaped. So currently, we don’t fear them. I wonder how the government will conduct elections in communities affected by this insurgency, because it is a no-go area.

Currently, there are seven of my children who want to get married. They have boyfriends, but I’m not talking about marriage.

{⸺Why not?}

As I’m talking to you, maybe you have eaten food with meat and honey. For me, you are disturbing me because I have not eaten, and I don’t even have two hundred naira as a family man. If you give me five hundred naira, I will be thankful.

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As narrated by: Yahuza Sama’ila Anka – 49 (Anka, Zamfara).

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This snippet is published as part of the series, What We Lost to the Bandits.