Farmers, sand excavators resolve dispute

SAND excavators in Malumfashi town and its suburbs, Malumfashi Local Government, Katsina State, have resumed work following a resolution of dispute between them and irrigation farmers in the area.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the dispute resulted in the scarcity of sand for construction as farmers denied the excavators access to the sites.NAN recalled that a group of sand excavators, along with their trucks, had protested the blockage of the road to the excavation sites by irrigation farmers, thereby disrupting their business.Malam Muhammadu Rabi'u, the leader of the irrigation farmers explained that they blocked the road because the activities of the excavators had caused a lot of damage to their crops.According to Rabi'u, farmers lost crops worth N3.5 million last year, following the destruction of water ways by the excavators' trucks, adding that efforts to rehabilitate the water passages failed.He said that irrigation farming is a major source of income to his members, adding that excavation activities remained a hitch to water storage for their crops.When contacted, the leader of the sand excavators, Alhaji Ashiru Abdullahi, also accused farmers of depriving his members their source of livelihood.He said that the dispute prompted them to report the matter to the local authorities.Abdullahi said that the acting Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government, Alhaji Nasiru Maidabino, had advised the excavators to go to court.He said that they rejected the advice and decided to complain to the District Head, Retired Justice Mamman Nasir, who promptly constituted a committee to investigate the matter.He explained that after inspecting the disputed excavation sites, the committee advised both parties to provide passages for trucks that would not jeopardise irrigation and excavating activities.
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