Cocoa farmers who have plantations inside the Oluwa forest reserve, Odigbo local government area of Ondo State have appealed to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to halt further grading roads inside the forest where the farms are located.
The cocoa farmers said a firm, Sao Agro-Allied Services Limited, has continued to destroy their crops by grading roads inside the forest.
In a letter addressed to Governor Akeredolu through their Counsel, Tope Temokun, the farmers begged him to prevail on the firm to eschew lawless pursuit of business interest in the state by complying with an order of the state High Court and halt its activities currently going on in the Oluwa Forest Reserve.
“Surprisingly and in flagrant disobedience to the said Order of the Court, men reportedly believed to be workers of SAO AGRO-ALLIED SERVICES LIMITED, the 7th Defendant in the case pending before the Court, have cantankerously continued on a daily basis to grade the Cocoa farmlands of our clients, in the Oluwa forest reserve.”
The farmers said a contempt proceeding have been filed over alleged disobedience to an order of Justice Aderemi Adegoroye restraining the firm from further grading of roads inside the forest where the farms are located.
Justice Adegoroye had also stopped the state government from forcibly evicting the Cocoa farmers.
Meanwhile, the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) has re-elected Comrade Adeola Adegoke as its National President for the next four years.
A total of 18 delegates voted at its delegate conference in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Comrade Adegoke promised to work towards uplifting the productivity of the cocoa farmers.