Protest rocks Ondo as farmers decry alleged assault, seek gov’t intervention

‎ …We’ve convened a meeting with Olowoniyi — Govt

‎Tension heightened on Friday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, as residents and farmers from Irore Ajelanwa Community, OA3A Oluwa Forest Reserve, in Odigbo Local Government Area, staged a peaceful protest over what they described as persistent assault, intimidation and harassment by one Damilola Olowoniyi, who claimed to be a forest guard at the State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The farmers, who stormed the Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, in numbers to register their grievances with different inscriptions such as; “Our elders are being threatened, please protect them; Governor Aiyedatiwa should help us; We have paid our due, why are we being punished, Mr. Governor, our lives are in danger, please help us,” said they could no longer endure alleged attacks that have prevented them from accessing their farmlands despite being legally allocated portions of the forest reserve by the state government.

However, efforts to reach Olowoniyi for his reaction proved abortive, as his line was not connecting at press time.

Read also: Ondo youths stage protest over deplorable conditions of roads

But the Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Olaleye Akinola, who addressed the protesters, assured them that the government had acknowledged their grievances.

He said the government had invited Olowoniyi to a meeting to address the issues and grievances of the farmers.

“We have convened a meeting with Olowoniyi holding today, where we will all sit together with representatives from your side. I can assure you that the government will do something about it,” he said.

Adesoji Awotale, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved farmers, said the crisis began after the state government sold about 10,000 hectares in the OA3A section of the Oluwa Forest Reserve to a private investor, SAO, prompting protests from long-time occupants who had cultivated the land for over two decades. ‎ ‎Following the agitation, the government later ceded 2,000 hectares to three affected communities, including the Irore Ajelanwa community, which received 261 hectares backed by verified government documents. ‎ ‎He explained that the community has been paying annual dues ranging from N2 million to N3 million, adding that they were preparing to renew their payment for the current year before the alleged assaults escalated.

Read also: Ondo government denies selling farmers’ land to private firm ‎ The farmers accused one Damilola Olowoniyi, described as a government-backed agent, of intimidation, assault and disrupting their access to farms.

According to him, the farmers have reported the matter to the Commissioner of Police and the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 17, but no meaningful action has been taken to address the recurring attacks. ‎ ‎Awotale lamented that many elderly farmers, some aged between 60 and 80, have abandoned their farmlands due to fear of being attacked, describing the situation as inhumane and economically devastating for families who depend on the crops for survival. ‎ “We have been paying our annual dues in millions. We were even planning to pay this year’s own before the 15th, but we feel we cannot continue to be oppressed, threatened, and marginalised on that small piece of land that we are occupying. That is the reason for this agitation.

“Damilola Olowoniyi has been threatening us on the land; we even have him on video recording where he was beating and molesting some people. He did not know that we brought in a private investigator to cover that event.

Read also: Residents protest illegal activities of miners in Ondo ‎ “We have written to the Commissioner of Police, we have written to the AIG, explaining our grievances and the problem we are having with this man. We even copied the AIG,” he said. ‎ The protesters, however, demanded that the state government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry should immediately peg the boundaries of the 2,000-hectare allocation to eliminate overlapping claims and prevent future disputes. ‎ He stressed that the farmers are not opposed to the government or private investment but only want a safe and peaceful environment where they can work without intimidation or violence.

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