Land Grabbers Destroy Cocoa Farm in Osun

A 80-year-old cocoa farmer at Idominasi village in Osun State, Chief Sule Oladepo, has called on the state government and security agencies to arrest land grabbers who destroyed his cocoa farm and chased him away from the village.

Oladepo said he hails from Osogbo but he has been farming at Idominasi village since 1970, adding that he married a daughter of a prominent farmer in the village, Chief Gabriel Ibironke.

He explained that his father in-law gave him the farm where he planted his cocoa and other crops while his wife also inherited a cocoa farm from her father after his death.

Oladepo said that after the death of his father in-law, some people in the village told him that they needed land to build a community school and he agreed to give them a portion of the land.

He said, however, that he was surprised when the people brought a bulldozer to the farm and destroyed his cocoa, adding that he later realised that those he gave a piece of land to build school on sold the land to other people.

He alleged that the people threatened to kill him when he challenged them for destroying his farm.
Oladepo said: “I gave them land to build school on it but they moved into my cocoa farm with a bulldozer and destroyed my cocoa. They sold the land to some people and they are now building some structures on it.”

The man alleged that a former member of House of Representatives was among those that sent him away from the farm, adding: “I have now become a beggar because I have nothing to do since they took away my cocoa farm. My children have dropped out of school and they are just roaming the streets in Osogbo.”

Oladepo said he reported the matter to the police but that nothing has been done yet.
He called on the state governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, to assist him to recover his farm.

Source: Daily Trust