Farmers in Ondo appeal to Aiyedatiwa for protection, accusing OSAEC Chairman of persecution amid legal dispute.
Farmers who are currently occupying the Oluwa Forest Reserve in the Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State have requested that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa take action against what they have referred to as a targeted campaign of blacklisting and persecution.
The initiative is reportedly being directed by the Ondo State Agribusiness Empowerment Centre (OSAEC), which is being run by Mr. Rotimi Wemimo Akinsola, who serves as the chairman of the organisation.
In spite of the fact that a legal issue is still going on in the High Court of Ondo State, the farmers, who are being represented by their legal counsel, Tope Temokun Esq., claim that OSAEC is attempting to forcibly remove them from agricultural land.
OSAEC is allegedly exploiting a recent verdict from a Grade A Customary Court that was obtained ex parte to justify additional eviction operations.
This is despite the fact that there is an existing High Court injunction that prohibits such proceedings from being taken.
Threats of eviction, intimidation, and the loss of their livelihoods are currently being made against the farmers, who have been cultivating the area for a few years.
The issue began in 2023, when farmers from the Oluwa Forest Reserve sued the Ondo State Government and SAO Agro-Allied Services Limited, a private corporation, for allegedly forcibly evicting them in order to set up an oil palm plantation (SUIT NO. HOR/14/2023).
A temporary injunction prohibiting the state and the firm from forcibly removing the farmers was granted by the Ondo State High Court.
But things have gotten hot again because of Mr. Akinsola’s new moves at OSAEC, in which he tries to use a lower court to ignore the High Court’s ruling.
As the High Court’s interim injunction continues to be in place, the legal team representing the farmers argues that the acts taken by OSAEC contradict the idea of judicial hierarchy.
The OSAEC’s pursuit of a contradicting order from a lower court, according to their argument, undermines the rule of law and establishes a precedent that is potentially harmful.
The lawsuits filed by the farmers claim that the activities taken by OSAEC, which are supported by law enforcement agencies, constitute a breach of their rights to access justice, property, and means of subsistence.
In order to ensure that they are protected, they have requested that Governor Aiyedatiwa take corrective action.
Temokun Esq. wrote a letter to Governor Aiyedatiwa, urging the state government to fulfil the following request: “Allow farmers to access their farmlands and harvest their crops without harassment or intimidation.”