Bandits Allegedly Demand ₦20 Million Levy from Katsina Farmers

Armed bandits operating in northwestern Nigeria have reportedly imposed a ₦20 million levy on farmers in Gatakawa community, Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State, demanding payment before they are allowed to harvest their crops.

The development was revealed on Wednesday by Bakatsine, a conflict and crisis journalist covering insecurity in Nigeria’s northwest, in a post shared on X (formerly Twitter).

According to the journalist, the bandits’ demand highlights the worsening insecurity in the region, where criminal gangs continue to extort rural communities under the guise of “peace agreements.”

Bakatsine wrote: “BREAKING: Bandits have reportedly imposed a ₦20 million levy on Gatakawa farmers before allowing them to harvest their crops — a chilling sign of deepening insecurity in the North West region. Gatakawa is a community in Kankara LGA of Katsina State.

For many farmers in Kankara LGA, the so-called peace deal has only brought deeper fear. Families now sell belongings or borrow money just to pay bandits before entering their farmlands.

Beyond the human toll, such extortion threatens food security and erodes public confidence in authorities’ ability to protect rural communities.”

The incident underscores the ongoing security challenges in Katsina and other parts of the North West, where bandit groups continue to target farmers, forcing many to abandon their livelihoods or pay heavy levies to access their land.