Ondo Denies Sale of Cocoa Plantation as Farmers Protest

The Ondo State Government on Monday denied selling a cocoa plantation and sending farmers away from their farmlands at Ilua Community in Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.

The farmers residing in the community on Saturday staged a protest alleging that the government had sold their cocoa plantations and other farmlands to some foreign companies.

The farmers, who came in large numbers with placards, “This is another slavery,’ ‘We say no to the destruction of our cocoa farms,’ ‘No farmers, no nation’, ‘We don’t want to steal, farming is our job’, ‘Aketi should not sell our lands to Chinese,’ ‘They should leave us here to farm, we have nowhere to go,’ among others

They alleged that the state government had issued a quit notice to all the farmers in all the 20 villages in the area to vacate their farms.

The protesters also alleged that government officials had already threatened to evacuate them forcefully if they failed to relocate before the end of the year.

The traditional ruler of the Ilua Community, Oba Olalani Ibidapo, said some people had gone to their villages and started erecting signposts that the state government had sold their farmlands and villages to Chinese and Indian companies.

He said: “They said the government has issued a notice that we should quit our farms and villages because the companies wanted to move in and take over our farms and villages.

“We have been here for over 100 years and we are here farming, no other things. I have more than 19 villages under me here, Ilua, Laoso, Adejori, Logunofe, Keseomi, Obadore, Obakele, Ilua 2, Kangidi, Oloruntedo, Abayemisi and Magbaralewon, just to mention a few.

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“We heard suddenly that we should move out unexpectedly. Where are we going to go? Look at our people, no work. We have graduates among us here, but since there’s no job, they ventured into farming. We are protesting against this policy and we also appeal to our Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to please consider our situation here.”

Also in his comment, the Chairman of Youths of Laje Community, Laoso District, Ondo West, Akinbami Philip appealed to the government to rescind the policy and order.

“We have graduates who have farms here, we want the government to leave us so that we would continue working on our farms. This is where we feed our families. The government asked us to pay money and we are faithful to it. Every year, the government gave us payment advice, sometimes N3 million and we did pay”, he said.

However, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor, on Agriculture and Agribusiness, Mr Akin Olotu, the government was not displacing villagers, particularly those occupying free areas in the state, saying no sensible government would displace anybody in any free area.

Olotu in a statement said: “We want to look into the matter, I will invite their representatives, we will sit down together and look at a win-win situation and see how we can accommodate their interests in what we are doing.

“Governance is about the people. So when we see what is on the ground, we will know what to do. Our little investigation shows that where they are is even out of where those people are coming to work.

“So maybe it’s anticipatory action, that may be. We will send government surveyors there to confirm the precise location, If anybody is affected, we will look at whether it’s a government reserve because nobody came to us in the office and I think that should be the first thing to do, to inform us about what is going on there.”