SPECIAL REPORT: Peasant farmers’ dreams turn to nightmares as Ondo govt gives land to corporate investors

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A project of the Ondo State Government for massive production of oil palm through agro-allied companies has led to thousands of peasant farmers being thrown off their farmlands.,

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For Toyin Akor, the world seemed to have come to an end. The 52-year-old woman had been farming cocoa in the forest for over 20 years. “I had about two hectares of cocoa, where I made at least N2 million annually, but everything was cleared in one day,” she told this reporter. It’s essential to acknowledge that news production incurs expenses, and we take pride in never placing our stories behind a prohibitive paywall.

“My children are in higher institutions and paying fees is now impossible because all my investments are gone with the farms,” he said. Mr Ogunleye said the protest was the third that they had held. They have also taken their case before the state high court. He said the court granted an injunction last year for the destruction of the farms to stop, but the reprieve was brief, as the bulldozers resumed work at the beginning of this year.

“We felt we have been left alone to farm after we protested last year. We had written petitions because this land belongs to our forefathers, but recently we saw them around again. We are appealing to all the authorities involved that we have no other place to go, we do not want to be out there as hoodlums, thieves.

In June 2021, the late Mr Akeredolu flagged off the Red Gold Project by inaugurating a privately owned Gas Inland LPG Terminal and Oil Palm Mills in the Ore Industrial Park in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state. The Red Gold Project was a partnership between the state government and the National Oil Palm Producing Association of Nigeria .

Mr Akeredolu died on 27 December and it is yet unclear if his successor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, inherited his passion for the project. The state is holding another governorship election in November.At Tokunbo, the headquarters of farming communities such as Temidire, Onipako, Tale, Olorunsogo, Oloruntedo, and Abana, farmers urged the government to stop the destruction of their crops. The villages lie several kilometres in the forest after Bagbe town, off the Ondo-Ore highway.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

 

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