Farmers and residents of five Ilaro communities in Yewa South Local Council, Ogun State, have petitioned Governor Dapo Abiodun over increasing attacks and land encroachment by armed land grabbers.
The communities: Iweke, Idode, Koto-Obo, Ilobi-Omuwa, and Ileba expressed alarm over what they described as “escalating terror” on their ancestral farmlands, warning of dire consequences for food security and livelihoods if urgent action is not taken.
In the petition, signed by their spokesperson, Pastor Oyero Olurin, the farmers alleged that criminal groups have continued to invade their lands in defiance of the state’s Anti-Land Grabbing Law, despite interventions by the Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Olugbenle.
They accused the armed invaders of assaulting farmers, destroying crops, including cocoa and citrus, stealing livestock, and intimidating villagers with impunity. According to them, the attacks have displaced families who have peacefully cultivated the lands for more than 150 years.
“They live in fear, unable to tend to their farms during the crucial planting and harvesting season,” the petition read. The farmers warned that unchecked violence could trigger food insecurity, economic collapse in the region, and possible loss of lives.
The petitioners also alleged complicity by some law enforcement officers, accusing them of meddling unlawfully in civil land matters that should be handled by courts and traditional rulers.
They claimed that land speculators, in collaboration with certain agents and legal practitioners, were using police protection to illegally sell large tracts of farmland without valid documentation.
“There are reports that some land grabbers are using police protection to illegally sell large tracts of farmland. They claim ancestral ownership without offering any valid documentation. Why are these claims only surfacing now when their ancestors never contested these lands?” the group queried.
The farmers appealed to Governor Abiodun to order security agencies to disarm and remove the invading groups, enforce the state’s Anti-Land Grabbing Law, and ensure the prosecution of those responsible. They further demanded relief support for displaced families and the establishment of a monitoring task force to protect vulnerable communities.
