PIPELINE VANDALISATION AND FARMERS’ SITUATION: EXPOSITION FROM OBAFEMI OWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the effects of pipeline vandalisation on the socio-economic life and activities of
farmers in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. Purposive and simple random
sampling techniques were used to select 80 farmers from the affected villages in the Local Govern-
ment Area. Primary data were obtained with interview guide. Chi-Square was used to analyze the
data collected. The mean age of the farmers was 43.37 years and 78.7% were male. Majority
(76.3%) were married while 61.2% were Christians. More than half (57.5%) had no formal education
and they cultivated an average of 4.94 hectares of land. Most (92.0%) of the farmers operated on full
time basis. Nearly all the farmers (97.5%) were aware of the incidents of pipeline vandalisation in their
area. Efforts of the farmers at reducing the menace included warning messages through town criers,
reporting cases to the law enforcement agents, threat of killing the vandals and the use of “charms†to
scare the vandals. Majority (52.5%) claimed that the efforts made by the farmers and the government
had no effect on the incident of pipeline vandalisation. Farmers’ perceived effect of pipeline vandalisa-
tion on their activities and livelihood included non-availability of labor due to the youths’ involvement in
the practice (82.5%), destruction of farmlands (76.25%) and pollution of rivers and atmosphere
(65.0%). Farmers were constrained by corrupt law enforcement agents in charge of surveillance, un-
cooperative attitude of fellow farmers, non-challant attitude of the government and lack of fund to or-
ganize campaigns against pipeline vandalisation. Chi-square analysis showed a significant association
between pipeline vandalisation and farmers’ agricultural production. It was concluded that pipeline
vandalisation was a regular occurrence in the study area and that it constituted a health hazard and
posed a problem to the environment as well as the agricultural activities of the farmers.