Host communities and Okomu Oil Plantation in Edo State had been at loggerhead over the trenches the latter dug, which it said was to protect its fruits from being stolen.
The communities, on Wednesday, protested over the trenches which they said had cut them off the road they used every day. However, Okomu Oil noted that the trenches were done on its land and had not blocked the communities’ access to the road.
According to a source, the protest started on May 3. However, it became bigger as men, women, and youths of the communities, particularly AT/P and Marioba, came out as early as 6 am on Wednesday, to continue the protest, as they tagged Okomu’s action as “treating us slaves in our fatherland.”
The Edionwere of Marioba Community, Chief Gabriel Eigbe Okwolegbe, accused the company of treating the host communities like slaves without them benefiting much from the company.
He stated that though the palm trees of the company were at the doorsteps of the communities, there was little to show for being host communities, rather the company dug a big trench on the road leading to their homes.
He lamented, “I don’t know why this company keeps treating us like slaves. You can see that the palm trees are at our doorsteps, yet there is little or nothing we are benefiting from the company. The only road we manage to get to our houses, the management has dug a big trench so that we will no longer have access to our houses.”
Another native from one of the communities who identified himself as Rex Akpokiniobo, said, “We have been enduring the arm-twisting tactics of the Managing Director of the company for too long, but this one is too much.
How can you dig your trenches to block our road? How do we come out and enter our houses.” In his response to a message from The PUNCH, the Communication Officer of Okomu Oil, Fidelis Olise, said the trench was meant to protect the palm fruits from being stolen.
He stated, “Please be informed that we did not block any road. We only dug trenches within our plantation to prevent the stealing of our fresh fruit bunches.
“The trench is on our plantation and nobody can dispute this. The trench is not cutting them off and the road is still there for them to pass,” he added.
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