The farmers alleged that the present administration in the state had sold their cocoa plantations to the company without any prior negotiation or notification.
According to the protesters, the company to which their plantations were sold had stormed their farms with earthmoving equipment and uprooted their cocoa trees, most of which were filled with seedlings. They said the destroyed farms were predominantly cash crops farms including cocoa, kola nut, and palm trees.
They carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Our land is weeping because the land keepers are being displaced, ‘ ‘Where do we farm if our land is taken away?’ ‘Respect the farmers because we give life,’ among others.
One of the protesters, Mr Adetoro Opeyemi, said all farmers from seven villages which were affected paid annual levies to the state government.
Opeyemi, who confirmed that many farmers were affected, said the state government has displaced them as the company that bought their plantations from the government has begun to clear the farms.
In a reaction, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Agriculture and Agribusiness, Mr, Akin Olotu said the forest belongs to the state government and the owner was not at any time transferred to any farmer upon payment of levy.
Olotu noted that the forest was being cleared to give way for the planting of oil palm as demanded by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He added that the CBN had requested each state to choose two crops in which it has a comparative advantage for investors to come in.
Olotu explained, “We told them that we are going to support them with new cocoa seedlings. Nobody is sending anybody to the unemployment market. If you’re affected, there’s provision to take care of you.
“Those that are not affected this year, the arrangement is that they should start now in this new area. We are going to give them seedlings when it’s planting season. We now want to do standard farming, what you are having from five hectares, you can now get from one hectare with proper management.”
