By Jubril Bada
The Ondo State Government has condemned the illegal arrest of some farmers in its forest reserves, describing the act as disheartening.
Mr. Rotimi Akinsola, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture and Agribusiness and Chairman of the Ondo State Committee on Agriculture and Food Security, announced the development to newsmen in Akure, the state capital, on Wednesday. He explained that he was informed about the arrest of the farmers on the same day the incident occurred.
The incident took place in the government forest in the Ore axis, the headquarters of Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.
Criticising the arrest of the farmers, who were simply going about their legal duties to make a living and contribute to food security in the state, Akinsola emphasised that Governor Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa did not authorise any action to arrest farmers in the government forest for any reason.
The Governor’s aide expressed his displeasure over the incident, stressing that this critical period requires the government to collaborate with farmers to address the global challenge of food insecurity.
“We are in a situation where we are trying to engage with farmers to ensure food security, and we do not need conflicts with them in the state,” Akinsola said.
“We are a farm- and farmer-friendly government, and we need our farmers to cooperate with the government on their farms, not at police stations,” he added.
Akinsola, who could not definitively state the reason for the arrests, mentioned that reports indicated the action involved cocoa farmers who were not members of the Cocoa Farmers Produce Association.
“We are not entirely clear on the situation, but we want to make it clear to the arrested farmers that my office, as the SSA, has nothing to do with the arrest,” he stated.
“We encourage them to focus on their farming activities and assure them that the government is not interested in arresting farmers without cause,” he continued.
Akinsola assured the public that the authorities were aware of the incident and had already taken steps to ensure the release of the detained farmers.
He further explained that the state government is implementing a new security framework to enable farmers to cultivate larger areas of land for crop production. This includes creating an environment conducive to cluster farming for the primary production of various crops.
He attributed most of the security challenges to illegal activities and unauthorised entry into the state.