The people of 23 communities in Orhionmwon Local Government of Edo State on Monday protested in Benin.
They urged Governor Godwin Obaseki to relocate a private oil palm investor, Saro, from Urhonigbe forest reserve, which they described as their farmland and their source of sustenance.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Mr. Obaseki, we voted for you, don’t do us like this’, “Our land is our only source of livelihood’, ‘Orhionmwon Council does not have land for oil palm investor’ and ‘We are peace-loving people.’
The demonstrators, under the aegis of Orhionmwon South Head-farmers Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Urhonigbe Forest Reserve, said leasing their farmland to Saro oil palm investor or any other investor would lead to hunger and suffering, stressing that the area’s unemployed graduates had to engage in farming.
Speaking in Benin, on behalf of the protesters, Larry Enobakhare said the area’s Urhonigbe forest reserve was donated by their forefathers, while other communities refused to make land donation as forest reserves.
He said: “The Urhonigbe forest reserve is our only means of livelihood, where we farm to sustain our families. Many youths from Orhionmwon Local Government, who are not interested in crimes, engage in farming at the forest reserve, as there are no employment opportunities after graduation.
“Widows and widowers farm at Urhonigbe forest reserve for survival. Herdsmen are killing our people from one side of the farmland, while people from Delta State are encroaching from the other side of the forest reserve. The only area left for us for farming is not enough for us.”
“We are begging Governor Obaseki to relocate Saro or any other oil palm investor to another local government with virgin land. Orhionmwon Local Government does not have such land. The governor should not keep us in hunger and starvation.”
The spokesman for the protesters said part of Urghonigbe forest reserve was earlier handed over to Presco oil palm investor, with the indigenes currently suffering, which should not be extended to their 23 communities.
He said Obaseki was voted for on September 19 last year, for a second term, because of the trust they had in him, and urged him to protect their interest.
Enobakhare drew Edo government’s attention to the deplorable state of roads in Orhionmwon Local Government, lack of electricity at the council’s headquarters in Abudu, the moving of the National Youth Service Corps’ (NYSC’s) orientation camp from Abudu to Okada, and the recent attempt to move the School of Forestry Management at Sokponba in Orhionmwon Local Government to Fugar in Etsako Central Council.
