Members of the Ondo State Timbers Trade Association (OSTTA) on Wednesday protested the continued ban on logging activities in the State.
They said the ban on logging activities has led to a loss of over 300,000 jobs across the State as workers in the value chain of logging business have been laid off.
Zonal Chairman of OSTTA, Rev Williams Atibioke, said the State Government would suffer in terms of paying billions in compensation to them if the ban on logging activities were not reversed.
Atibioke said they were waiting for the planned intervention of traditional institutions on the issue which was why the protest was not to shut down activities
He stated that it was wrong for the state government to shut them out of the forest and allowed Flitchers to operate freely and continue logging activities.
According to him: “We are legitimate owners of the forest. We are allottees of the forest. He allows others, the illegal occupants to take up our jobs. He allowed them to evacuate the already felled woods.
“We want to show him our grievances. We were informed the Obas and Kabieyies want to intervene. If the Obas could not resolve this, the state government will pay dearly for it in cash.
“We have paid billions of naira. In the last three months, we have lost over N200bn. There was no reason given for the closure of the forest. We didn’t have any dialogue before logging activities were stopped.
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“The Flitchers are pirates. They hijacked our business unaware. We have won them in court. Governor Akeredolu was our lawyer then. We want the forest to be open and Flitchers banned. They have ruined our business.”
General Secretary of the association, Pastor Olu Ayodele, said they have paid for a logging permit that would soon expire.
Ayodele alleged that illegal logging activities were still going on in Ondo forest reserves.
A member of the association’s Board of Trustee, Edward Adeyemi, said logging activities was the mainstay of the Ondo State economy.
He said are 75 percent of the State’s population was employed directly or indirectly to the logging business.
“This type of attitude has never happened in this business before. I have to sack all my workers when it extended beyond two months. Logging is the major business in Ondo State. There is a free area. Allow logging in the free area while the forest reserve is fixed.”
Ondo Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, urged the timber merchants to give the government time to harness all available options toward making the sector better.
Ojogo explained that the directive banning logging activities was in their own interest as legitimate businessmen.”
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