Farmers take Ondo to court over farmland sale

Some farmers in Ondo State have filed a case in the state High Court sitting in Ondo town in the state challenging the state government’s sale of their farmlands in Oluwa Forest Reserve in Odigbo Local Government Area of ​​the state.

According to concerned farmers of the Oluwa Forest Reserve Farmers Association, the 2000.482 hectares of land was sold to a foreign company and the buyer had already obtained a certificate of residence, leaving thousands of concerned farmers jobless.

Their lawyer, Tope Temokun, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday asking the court to rule that the government’s sale of the land was illegal.

The defendants in the suit are the Ondo State Government, the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, the state Ministry of Agriculture, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Akin Olotu, former Chairman of the Ondo State Centre for Agribusiness and Empowerment, and ACME Palm Limited.

The plaintiffs, Irewole Muse, Kenneth Osaai, Salami Rafiu, Felix Ayeleso, Adegboyega Sunday, Jimoh Yekini and Ojuade Funminiyi, on behalf of themselves and other concerned farmers, also asked the court to order the quashing of the C of O issued to the sixth defendant.

They asked for “an order accordingly of this court revoking and cancelling the Certificate of Occupancy issued by the first defendant to the sixth defendant on the 23rd day of July, 2021, registered as No. 59 in Volume 767, Page 59 of the Ondo State Land Registry and declaring the plaintiffs’ right of possession of the farmlands granted and/or leased to them by the first defendant covering Ijoba, Sete II, Ipade, Ayeleso, Isero, Temidire and Adeleye Itamerin camps and their sub-camps within Oluwa Forest Reserve (OA3A) in Odigbo Local Government Area of ​​Ondo State and 2000.482 hectares of government forest reserve lands situated in Oluwa, Odigbo Local Government Area of ​​Ondo State as covered by the Certificate of Occupancy issued on the 23rd day of July, 2021. Forest Reserve (OA3A) and registered as lot No. 59 at page 59 of volume 767 of the Ondo State Land Registry, shall remain valid subject to the legal determination of the plaintiff’s right of possession and/or the lawful exercise of the powers conferred upon the first defendant under the Ondo State Forest Act and other relevant laws.”

In the suit, the plaintiffs also sought “a permanent injunction restraining the sixth defendant and his associates or agents from further exercising their title or possession rights over 2000.482 hectares of land located in the Ondo State Government Forest Reserve pursuant to the Certificate of Occupancy dated July 23, 2021, registered as No. 59 in Volume 767, Page 59 of the Ondo State Land Registry.”

“Permanent injunction restraining the sixth defendant and his persons or agents from forcibly evicting the plaintiff or razing or uprooting the plaintiff’s crops or doing anything prejudicial to the plaintiff’s right of possession of the lands granted and/or leased to the plaintiff by the first defendant covering Ijoba, Sete II, Ipade, Ayeleso, Isero, Temidire and Adeleye Itamerin camps and their sub-camps within the Oluwa Forest Reserve (OA3A) in the Odibo Local Government Area of ​​Ondo State and government forest reserve land measuring 2000.482 hectares within the Oluwa Forest Reserve (OA3A) in the Odibo Local Government Area of ​​Ondo State, the certificate of occupancy for the said lands being issued on the 23rd day of July, 2021 and registered in the Ondo State Land Registry as Certificate No. 59, Volume 767, Page 59 of the Land Registry.”

The plaintiff’s lawyer said the farmers had written several letters to the state government, asking it to intervene in the matter, but received no response, so they decided to appeal to the court.