Farmers in Ijaye under the aegis of Ijaye Farm Settlement Association on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest to the Oyo State Governor’s Office to alert the government against the unholy activities of herders in their farms
They gathered at the entrance gate of the Governors office at about 10:30am and refused to be persuaded but insisted on speaking face to face with Governor Seyi Makinde.
The protesters carried placards and sang solidarity songs to express their pains and sufferings in the hands of the herders who they said have turned the Farm settlement to another ‘Sambisa Forest’.
Inscriptions on the placards of the protesters read “If oppressor is compensated, the oppressed deserves compensation too”, “Farmers need government assistance”, “Our farms are no longer secured for farming”, “Fulani herders are destroying us”, “S.O.S! Enough is enough. We don’t want cattle on our farms again” and “All forests around the settlements now houses numerous cattles”, among others.
The protesting farmers said one of their members was recently amputated for daring to confront a herder who grazed his farm, adding that majority of the farmers are already leaving the farms for fear of attack.
Chairman, Ijaye Farm Settlement Association, Dr Tairu Tajudeen said the rent pay rent on the allotted farmland with the herders not paying, yet they indiscriminately invade the farmlands and destroy their crops
He said “Everybody you see here, we are all farmers at Ijaye Farm settlement that belongs to the Oyo state government. We pay rent every year to the government on this land. And Fulanis and their cattles have now invaded government-owned cropland. They have turned us into slaves on our own lands. You cannot even challenge them because they are armed with sophisticated weapons.
“They pointed guns at us at every challenge made by us. In fact, two days ago, one of our farmers (named Nuru) that challenged them on his own farm got his right arm amputated right in our presence there. Nobody to help us because they are more equipped than us.
Also speaking the Secretary of the Association, Mr Yakub Olanrewaju said despite the government claim of an existing anti-open grazing taskforce, the government had done nothing to save the farmers despite numerous moves and letters to call attention to the destruction by the herders.
“They told us specifically that a farm settlement would be for cropping only. We were not allowed to rare our common goat on the land. Then, why should there be a concentration of cows there, it shouldn’t be, there would be problems. We are having a minimum of 25 acres as minimum holdings for each of our members and that is enough to produce nothing less than 200 tonnes of maize and if you multiply that, then you will see that it can feed thousands of people, why should they neglect us?
While addressing the protesters, CP Odukoya said “We have collected and noted their grievances, their representations and I will ensure that the letter gets to the authority and I assure you that the government will look into it and the necessary steps and actions would be taken
