Twenty-four hours after the mass protest by farmers at the Oluwa Forest Reserve, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, against a private firm, SAO Agro-Allied Services Limited, over planned forceful eviction, the firm has stated that the protesting farmers are the illegal occupants of the farm.
According to the Vice President of the firm, David Olijogun, the firm, which had been operating since 2021, received its allocation of the land legally from the Ondo State government and paid all necessary money.
Olijogun, who disclosed this to newsmen during a press briefing in Akure, the state capital, stated that the firm secured the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-O) as far back as 2021, stressing that the Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Ayo Sotinrin, had resigned as the CEO of the firm on April 7, 2025.
While stating that the firm decided to invest in palm oil following the resolve of the Federal Government to improve on oil palm production, coupled with the delineation of 100,000 hectares of forest reserves by the state government,
He said, “We are not land grabbers. We are not here to do illegal business. We are not just entering into land that has not been officially given to us. This land has been officially given to us. We have spent a lot. We have spent both financially and otherwise.
“If people are discouraging young men and young people, and entrepreneurs who are interested in the development of Nigeria, I don’t know how we are going to progress. If all these things are coming at this time, where are we with other people who are interested in developing the country when others are leaving?
“Another thing I want to be made straight is the fact that they are now linking our former CEO with this issue that just happened yesterday. Our former CEO resigned on the 7th of April. He was appointed the MD of the Bank of Agriculture. So, he has resigned.”
The Chief Operating Officer of SAO Agro-Allied Services Ltd, Uthama Seelan Kandasamy, said that the activities of illegal farmers, who are non-indigenes, had begun to scare intending investors from coming to the state.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the Red Gold Forum, Henry Oladunjoye, blamed Ondo State Internal Revenue Service (ODIRS) for the crisis in Oluwa Forest Reserve, alleging that the tax officials were double-dealing as they collected tax from the major investors and still went behind to collect levies from the farmers who are illegal occupants of the forest reserve.
The investors, therefore, called on the federal government and Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to intervene in the crisis.
They disclosed that some investors, who had shown interest in the state, have begun to develop cold feet about bringing their money to the state.
