Eight months ago, internally displaced persons from Baga were delighted to learn that the Borno State government was going to allow them to resettle in their ancestral communities – but the move has proved a disappointment for most of them because, as they are mostly farmers, they have not been given permission to access their lands.

Hassan Baba Jemu told RNI reporter Ummi Fatima Baba Kyari that the residents were pleased to be home. The government had provided health facilities and there were enough doctors to take care of patients. Security was also good because there were troops, vigilantes and Civilian Joint Task Force members looking out for them.

But, he said, there were large tracts of land in areas close by that the government had not reopened for farming.

“Not farming means no food. It is very frustrating. We depend on farming to sustain ourselves and to earn a good living. But since our return, there are still places we need to get to but the government has not given us access.”

Places such as Dam, Dumba, Yobe, Dumbari, Dakchari, Garin Mata Kumungari and others remained off limits, so they could not farm.

He said before they had been forced to flee from the deadly attacks by insurgents, they produced potatoes, beans, groundnuts, maize, grains and other crops.

“We need to access those places. Most of us are farmers and without access, we cannot produce food. We are now suffering because food is scarce. And it is getting worse as time goes by. We need to get to those places urgently.”

Jemu said that apart from the inaccessible land, the residents also needed fertiliser, pesticides and other farming inputs.

Residents were able to catch fish, which they sold in Maiduguri, and some had other businesses, such as barbers, carpenters and tailors, which were going smoothly.

“If the government opened the lands, we could produce large harvests which would help not only us but the whole nation by putting an end to food insecurity.

“We prefer living in Baga. It is much better than living in an IDP camp in Maiduguri. Generally, we have a good life here and it is easier than it was in the camp. The only thing that makes it difficult is that we can’t access our lands. We are pleading with the government to give us back our access so that we can farm again. Then our lives would be complete.”

AISHA SD JAMAL