Kano farmers recount losses as dam spills excess water

Farmers in Kiru, Kura, Bebeji and some parts of Bunkure and Kumbotso local government areas of Kano state have lamented the current Tiga dam spill as hundreds of acres of farm lands were submerged in water.

Solacebase investigation has revealed that the incident has destroyed several plantations that were ready for harvest belonging to hundreds of peasant farmers in the affected local government areas of the state.

Malam Aminu Usman is a farmer in Kubaraci village who said that the water washed away his two acres of maize plantation.

According to him many farmers had also lost their vast lands of plantation due to the dam’s spill adding that he was expecting a bumper harvest at the end of the wet-season but the flood washed away his expectation.

“The water had completely washed away my two acres of maize. Though I have other plantations, I don’t think I will get anything from the maize farm. This flood had indeed put a set-back in our expectation this year,” he said.

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Another farmer Shu’aibu Dorawa told Solacebase that the dam water really pulled him down completely as hectares of his rice plantation and his Sorghum farm were washed away.

He explained that last year the rain stopped very early and as such his rice didn’t do well and this year when he was so optimistic that he would recover his last year’s losses, the dam water came and washed away the plantation.

“I was expecting to harvest rice paddy worth N2.5 million from my rice farm, but unfortunately, the dam spill had washed it away, I couldn’t even access the farm right now because the water is too much unless I use a canoe,” he lamented.

However, when contacted, Kano state chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Alhaji Abdulrasheed Magaji Rimin Gado, stated that the association is currently collating information of the affected farmers and their affected farm lands to ascertain the damages done by the dam’s spill.

“Indeed the dam’s spill has seriously affected our member’s farm lands, it is unfortunate that when farmers were so optimistic that they would have a bumper harvest this year, then this tragedy came. However, at the level of the association, we have instructed our local government executives to collate information of affected farmers and their affected farms for damage assessment,” he said.

Last Friday, a report had gone viral that the Tiga dam had collapsed and as such many people were plunged into panic.

However, management of Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA) custodian of the dam faulted the claim saying the dam is intact.

During a site visit Managing Director HJRBDA Ma’amun Da’u Aliyu stated that Tiga dam reservoir has never been in a better condition than now. According to him the excess water released was as a result of the dam’s spillways to reduce the dam’s water content.

Similarly, the federal government delegation led by Water resources minister, Engr. Suleiman Adamu members representing Rano/Bunkure/Kibiya federal constituencies in the House of Representatives, Alhaji Kabiru Alhassan Rurum and other politicians had visited the site to ascertain the extent of the damage.