Farmers in Difa Community, Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, have begun staying on their farms to keep watch due to an increasing number of hippopotamus attacks on their crops.
A correspondent from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who visited the area on Tuesday, noted the presence of several makeshift shelters constructed from guinea corn and sorghum stalks, which farmers now use to protect themselves during their extended stays.
Signs of prolonged occupation were visible, with burnt stalks, cooking pots, plates, and mosquito nets scattered throughout the area.
Meanwhile, several hippopotamuses were seen surfacing briefly to breathe while their bodies remained submerged in the river.
In separate interviews with NAN, farmers shared their difficult experiences of risking their lives to protect their farmlands from the second-largest land mammals.
“In 2024 alone, I spent over N600,000 to pay youths to guard my 7-hectare farmland and prevent hippos from grazing on my crops,” Abdulateef told NAN.
“I usually harvest almost 80 bags of paddy yearly, which gives me roughly N4 million annually. After taking out the cost of fertilisers and the money used to secure my farmland from hippos, I end up with around N2.5 million.
“Hippos have increased my cost of farming by nearly 50 per cent. I pay each youth N10,000 weekly to watch my farm, and I have five of them on my farm,” he added.
For Mr Abu Ali, a 52-year-old rice farmer from the community, his story is one of both fear and courage.
Ali told NAN that he had to put on a brave face to scare away the massive animals he feared so much, guarding his farm every night for the past 60 nights.
He described the hippopotamus attacks on his farmland as unbearable, citing the significant destruction they cause whenever they invade. Ali noted that the growing number of hippopotamuses and their increasing attacks had forced farmers to remain on their farms from planting season until harvest.
According to him, any farmer who plants crops without taking proper precautions to protect them would have nothing to harvest.
“Three days ago, I fell asleep around 4am after staying awake all night. Before I knew it, one of the hippos entered my farm and ate up my rice plants, which were due for harvest in a few days,” he said.
“I was so lucky that my son heard the sound and scared the animal away. If not for my son, I would have incurred heavy losses because the crop was ready to be harvested.
“I’ve been staying awake on the farm for 60 nights to watch the crops, but just one night of sleep almost cost me my livelihood,” he added.
Ali, who has been farming the land for over 25 years, said he paid N180,000 to three youths to watch his farmland for three months.
“In 2024, I was expecting 50 bags but only managed to get 15 bags. This caused me huge losses, which is why many of us have had to stay on the farms from planting time to harvest.”
Similar experiences were shared by Mohammed Kalagar, Idris Ali, and other farmers who spoke to NAN. They lamented that the hippopotamus population had grown to around 100, leading to an increase in attacks on their farmlands.
The farmers appealed for urgent intervention, stressing that their livelihoods were under threat due to the constant grazing of hippopotamuses on their crops.
Similar stories were also shared by farmers in Malleri in Kwami LGA and Kupto in Funakaye LGA when interviewed by NAN.
Mr Inuwa Ahmed, Director of Forestry and Wildlife Management at the Gombe State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, confirmed that over 20 complaints regarding the hippopotamus attacks had been received.
Ahmed revealed that the government, through the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) Project, was working on establishing a hippopotamus sanctuary to protect the animals and their habitat while allowing farmers to cultivate their land without conflict.
“We plan to plant grasses and other vegetation that hippos feed on, covering a 60-metre width along the riverbanks and extending 15 kilometres along the river within the sanctuary,” Ahmed said.
