Farmers in Kala Balge complain every year about the roaming elephants but officials have not come to their aid.

Four women and two children drowned after roaming elephants chased them into a swirling, strong-flowing river in Rann in the Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State.

Residents of the town told RNI that the women and children were internally displaced persons taking refuge in Rann.
The women and children were returning to the town on Sunday, December 17, after collecting food aid from members of the World Food Programme.

A resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said the women and children must have disturbed a herd of roaming elephants that were grazing on farmlands.

“The elephants began chasing the them and they fled towards the river bordering Cameroon. The women and children jumped into the swirling water. The river was flowing extremely strongly. The women and children could not swim and soon drowned.”

Each year roaming elephants invade the area, trampling, grazing and destroying farmland. The elephants have even killed some residents by trampling on them. Locals have reported the elephant problem frequently but wildlife officials have not helped them.

In November, Zainab Gimba, a politician representing Bama, Ngala and Kala Balge in Borno State, asked the National Wildlife Park and the Federal Ministry of Environment to come up with a solution to stop the annual threat posed by elephants. There has been no response.

AYSHA MUSTAPHA KOLOMI