A group of farmers, under the aegis of Afero Commercial Farmers Cooperative, has taken their grievances to the Lagos State House of Assembly to protest the alleged injustice meted on them by the military, who invaded their farmlands and bulldozed their farm produce.
The farmers are calling on the speaker to help intervene on the issue with the Executive through the Lagos State Governor to come to the aid of the farmers, who are doing their businesses legitimately before the military invasion. Addressing newsmen during the protest, the chairman of the farmers’ group, Prince Wale Oyekoya said that the land was allocated to them by the Lagos State Government through the former Governor Babatunde Fashola with the letter of allocation and survey from the Surveyor General’s office and that they have been there for over 10 years.
He said billions of naira had been lost since the invasion, as farmers cannot access their farms and their various produces have been bulldozed by the military. However, he said Afero Commercial Farmers Cooperative was established in 2005 purposely for commercial farming in crops and livestock to promote food security in Lagos State and Nigeria.
“When we started in 2014, the Lagos State Government sent a letter to Bama Farms Limited that they are relocating my farm to pave way for Lekki International Airport and I immediately called all other farmers to the situation and we all agreed to come together and engaged late Rotimi Williams (SAN). Eventually, we were compensated and relocated to Eluju Mowo/Mutaku in 2015. We started having problems from the omoonile and hooligans immediately we took over our farms. Thugs will come and disturb our farms, destroying our crops and stealing our livestock. As time goes on, the Omoonile brought thugs and estate developers to destabilise us. The estate developers started building on our farmlands and we reported all this to the government through the governor, ministry of agriculture, lands, survey, commerce and justice with no response or action from them”.
Speaking further, he said precisely five weeks ago, the military came in full force beating people up and sending people away from their properties as farmers were not exempted. “Bama Farms is the hardest hit as his farms are being taken over by the military, breaking the fences, bulldozing our crops and properties, telling us to move our farm houses and livestock houses. Bama Farms is now their base and ammunition depot. All Bama farm workers have disappeared out of fear and intimidation thereby affecting our farming activities. Joseph Esekhile, another farmer expressed the farmers’ desire for secure land to continue their agricultural activities. The farmers expressed their grievance over their losses and stressed their frustration with the lack of response from government agencies.
He said that they have endured immense hardship due to the ongoing situation and hope that their pleas for assistance will finally be heard. Oyelayo Oyetunde, another farmer, called on the state governor to intervene and come to the rescue of the farmers, who have lost their means of livelihood. “When the military came, they beat up everybody; we cannot get to our farm. My cashew is already fruiting; I cannot sell because I did not have access to my farm. I think the government should look into this otherwise the issue of food security will not be solved in Nigeria and in Lagos state in particular”, he added.
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