Over 400 pineapple farmers in the Aduhanhan community in Uhunmwonde Local Government Area have protested over the alleged plan by the Edo State government to illegally evict them from their farmlands for a palm oil investor.
DAILY POST reports that the farmers who are also into the cultivation of yams, cassava, maize among others protested under the Aduhanhan Taungya farmers Association.
The protest was led by Alhaji Bako Dogwo, the Edo State Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, and other executives of the Aduhanhan Taungya farmers Association on Wednesday in the community.
Addressing the press at the protest, Dogwo described the alleged planned illegal eviction of the farmers from the land which they have been farming for over 60 years as inhuman and against the policies of the government at all levels to fight food insecurity.
Bako said, the farmers inherited the farmland from their forefathers and fathers who had been farming there for the past 60 years.
He said when the government handed the Forest Reserves to the community they were mandated to farm only food crops like cassava, yams, maize, pineapple among others and not cash crops.
While noting that Nigeria is the highest producer of pineapple in Africa and the 7th in the World, he posited that the ranking was achieved mainly because Edo State is the highest producer of the crop in the country.
He noted that if the plan to illegally evict the over 400 farmers from over 10 communities from the land is made possible, it would amount to land grabbing, injustice, oppression of farmers and governments’ lip services to agriculture.
He opined that it would also be an injustice to illegally evict the farmers who have been paying revenue annually to the State Government.
According to him, over 400 farmers from over 10 communities are farming in this place. If they say we should go, where do we go and why?
“We are aware that Senator Monday Okpebholo, a listening Governor of Edo State is not interested in taking land from the entire community. That is why we are appealing to him to please intervene.
“We have over several thousand hectares of Pineapple, cassava, yams, maize and other farms in this forest reserve land that we are using to take care of the nation.
“The governor, who has always had an interest in farmers, last year, voted over N70 billion in agriculture. This is the highest allocation to agriculture right from the Western region, the Midwest region to Bendel State and now Edo State.
“As a result, we are appealing to the Edo State Government to please come to our rescue. The government should please come to our aid. The government should please not allow people to become criminals.
“We say no to oppression. We say no to land grabbers. Nobody can come here and take our land because if this land is taken from us, we will have nowhere to go.
“This is where we get our daily bread. This is where we take care of our children. This is where we make sure things are happening in the state. That is why today, Edo State is the number one producer of pineapples in Nigeria. If these farmers are not here, will you count the State as number one?, he queried.
He said apart from Ekpoma in Esan West Local Government Area, the Aduhanhan community in the Uhunmwonde Local Government Area is the second highest producer of pineapple in the state.
On his part the most senior person in the community, Pa Iro Omorodion, a supercentenarian also called for Governor Monday Okpebholo’s intervention, adding that he was among the pioneer farmers the government gave the forest reserve land to farm.
Omorodion added that the then government gave them seedlings for the planting of young forest trees alongside their food crops to ensure that they adhered to the directives of only planting food crops and not cash crops.
The head of the community, who said the farmers have strictly abided by the directives, urged the governor not to evict them as that is their only source of livelihood.
Also speaking, Monday Richardson Amakon, chairman, Aduhanhan Taungya Farmers Association, Monday Owen Egbon, Secretary, Uyi Asemota and Mrs Juliet Osadolor members of the association appealed to Governor Okpebholo to come to their aid.
They alleged that a plan has been concluded to forcefully evict the farmers for an investor to plant palm oil, an allegation they described as a negation of the directives of the government that gave the land to their fathers and forefathers.
They opined that if farmers in the state are displaced for the cultivation of only cash crops, the state would not produce food crops?
“Our forefathers have farmed and left this place for us. This is the place we train our children without this place, there is no way we can train our children. This is where we get our daily food and livelihood. This is where we also take care of our families.
“We are here protesting today because we heard that the Edo State Government wants to drive us from our farmland and give it to another person to cultivate palm oil.
“Is it only palm oil that we are going to be eating and drinking in the state? The answer is no. We have Okomu, presco, the two major palm oil producers in Nigeria. We have other companies and individuals that are into palm oil.
“So, we are appealing to the government to please, leave this land for us. The land we now hear that they are allocating to us is not up to 15 acres. Is 15 acres enough for 400 persons to farm? The answer is a capital no”.
“Governor please allow us to farm here so that our children will not go hungry. Our children will not go on the streets to start begging or engage in criminal activities. Allowing us will continue to contribute to the state’s production rating in pineapples, cassava, maize and others in the country as well as address food insecurity.
