Farmers besiege Osun Assembly 'Over alleged inhuman treatment

ABOUT 1,000farmers fromShasha farm settlement in Osun State, on Monday, stormed the state House of Assembly to protest alleged inhuman treatment meted out to them by the timber contractors, who, they claimed, were acting on the instruction of the state government.They alleged that the timber contractors chased them out of their farmlands and destroyed their produce, including cash and food crops.Their spokesperson, Chief Mohammed Jimoh, who is the vice chairman of the association, said their means of livelihood had been destroyed, as they now lived a miserable life.'There is problem between us and the timber contractors. They said they are acting on behalf of the state government and that we should all stop all forms of farming activities in the forest reserves.'We don't want trouble, that is why we take our grievances to the government so that it could intervene. For now, there is no hope of going back to our farmlands until government provides adequate securities that could guarantee the safety of our lives and properties,' he said.Reacting, official of the state Ministry of Environment, Mr Joseph Ashaolu, said government reserves did not allow any form of farming activities, saying that the action of the farmers was illegal.Mr Ashaolu, the Director of Forest Regeneration and Utilisation in the ministry, said the government, over time, had been battling with the issue of illegal farming, adding that it got to the extent that the former governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, ordered all farmers in the forest reserves to leave the forest, because they had contravened government's laws.
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