By Abdullahi Yusuf
The Management of Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority(HJRBDA) has accused some farmers in Miga Local Government Area of Jigawa State of breaking the Basin’s main Canal that transports water to downstream users from Kano to the boarder of its catchment areas in Jigawa State and terminates at Chad River Basin in Yobe State.
The authority said the farmers’ action amounts to sabotaging President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on Food Security.
The Managing Director of the Basin, Alhaji Rabiu Suleiman Bichi, who disclosed this, said some unpatriotic farmers intentionally broke the main Canal to siphon water to their farmlands, which he said, had caused serious damage to the main Canal, thus threatening the President’s Food Security Initiative.
Bichi said that the authority is already collaborating with security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators and make them face the consequences of their action in the court of law.
He explained that the main Canal channels water from Tiga River to a distance of about 350 Kilometers, but that the culprits breached the Canal at about 170 kilometers in Miga Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
“The criminal act has caused the destruction of over 100 hectares of farmland which was flooded by the reckless action,thereby rendering farmers and their farm produce useless.
“We are taking legal action against the perpetrators; already we are working in tandem with security agencies to apprehend those behind the act and make them face punishment for their action,” he said.
The Managing Director also stated that the authority is working hard to repair the Canal and block the breached area so as to stop the diversion and save the farmlands and allow smooth movement of water to its destination at Hadejia Barrage and further downstream.