Farmers in the llua village of Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State staged a mass protest against the state government’s purported transfer of their cocoa plantations and other farmlands to foreign firms.
Oba Olalani Ibidapo, the traditional monarch of Ilua, led the protesters.
Wielding placards with various inscriptions, the angry protesters raised the alarm that the state government had issued them quit notice in all the 20 villages in the area and equally threatened to evacuate them forcefully if they failed to relocate before the end of the year.
Singing “All we are saying is leave us alone,” the inscriptions on the various placards of the protesters reads: “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 the Chinese”. “They should leave us here to farm; we have no where to go.” “Cocoa farm is our livelihood; don’t chase us out.” “Cocoa farm is what we live on; don’t sell the land to China.”
Speaking with journalists, the monarch, Oba Ibidapo, who led the protest said: “There were some people who came to our villages and started erecting signposts that the state government has sold our farmlands and villages to Chinese and Indian companies.
“They said the government has issued notice that we should quit our farms and villages because the companies want 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.
“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, Rotimi Akeredolu, to please consider our situation here.
“We are large communities, and that’s why the state government itself provided health centres, schools, and polling units for us here.
“We voted for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last general elections. We are more than 50,000 in terms of population.
“But I want the government to take note that if they insist on ejecting us, there will be a problem. Many of the victims would turn to crime.
“Look at the youths working on the farm; the government should be happy about this development. Look at the crowd.”
Also commenting on the protest, the Chairman of the Youths of Laje Community, Laoso District, Ondo West, Akinbami Philip, said: “We are begging our governor to rescind this policy and order.
“We have graduates who have farms here; we want the government to leave us so that we can 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.
“But now, they no longer give us payment advice. The last time we paid into the government coffers was in 2021 because they didn’t give us payment advice again.
“What we think is that the government wants to sell these lands totally. This would make us suffer. We have started seeing white men coming to the land; we are against this policy.”
Also, another community leader, Prince Francis Adewole, urged President Bola Tinubu to help them prevail on Governor Akeredolu to allow them to continue working on their cocoa and plantain farms.
“We are begging President Tinubu to also help us appeal to Governor Akeredolu to give us a chance to enjoy what we have laboured for.
“We have been here for over 100 years; we have lots of cocoa plantations, plantain farms, kolanut farms, and other crops. We are many here, and our only occupation is farming.
One of the aggrieved protesters, Ademola Ajibola, a graduate of physics, told newsmen that he decided to venture into farming when he couldn’t get a job in the city.
Ajibola said, “We are highly surprised by the state government’s action against us. We have been here for many years. I am a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, but I have no job.
“Yet I decided to venture into cocoa farming. We do pay our dues to the government until 2021, when we saw some people erecting signposts on our farms.
“They said they were given the order to come and destroy our cocoa and other plantations. Where do we go from here?
“We have villages all around here; there are no hideouts for bandits or criminals. We are protesting because the government will not let us breathe.
“Food security is our watchword here; we sell food to the people in town. If we are evacuated from here, I don’t know what the result might be.
“But if this policy of leaving here is carried out, there would be social implications; there would be disaster.”
When contacted to comment on the alleged ejection of the farmers, the Senior Special Assistant (Agric & Agribusiness) to the governor, Pastor Akin Olotu, denied the allegations.
Olotu said that the state government didn’t issue such a quit notice or sell the farmers farms to anyone or a foreign firm.
