•‘Our N20b investment threatened’
Farmers in Epe, who are being terrorised by kidnappers, have nothing to fear, Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr Idiat Adebule assured them yesterday.
Mrs Adebule gave the assurance during a meeting with representatives of the farmers of Igbodu/Isiwo axis of Epe who were at the Governor’s Office to protest against the scourge of kidnapping and demand government’s intervention.
The farmers carried placards with inscriptions such as: “Help us from kidnappers.” “Save farmers, save the nation,” “Please, flush out the creeks,” “Food security is threatened’, “Save our Investments.”
A statement from her office said despite the government’s efforts to make the state safe for residents and investors, some scrupulous persons still making life difficult for people.
It said: ‘’Let me assure you that the government is not resting on its oars. We are doing all we can to guarantee the safety of lives and restore peace in the area.
‘’Currently, the government is speaking with the Federal Government to see how they can work with us to combat the problems of insecurity because we cannot do it alone.
‘’As a matter of policy, government does not pay ransom, but will ensure that it provides the security agencies with necessary equipment and support to contain the situation and rescue the kidnapped.
‘’We sympathise with you and we beg for your understanding. I will relay your complaints to Governor (Akinwunmi) Ambode for further and appropriate action on the matter.”
The farmers’ spokesperson Ayokunle Ore, said their farms had been under kidnappers’ attacks since last September.
Ore urged the state to seek the Federal Government’s support to extend the mandate of the Joint Taskforce (JTF) to Epe to curtail the high rate of kidnapping.
He said the issue should treated urgently as their investments were suffering and their lives at risk.
He said: “With the desire to contribute our quota to national food security and sufficiency, we have invested our lifetime savings and borrowings from banks to the establish farms in the agricultural belt created by the state.
‘’Some of us even relocated from abroad to come and invest in farming to respond to government’s call for diversification of the economy.
‘’We estimated over N20 billion investments by small, medium and large scale farmers in the area and now it is at grave risk.
‘’We urge Governor Ambode to intervene urgently and come to our rescue by seeking the support of JTF in the area to destroy the camps of these kidnappers
‘’They should extend the mandate of the JTF (Operation Awatse), currently in Ikorodu and Festac to also cover the Igbodu/Isiwo axis and adjoining creeks.”
Ore said over 50 farmers had been kidnapped and millions of naira paid as ransom.
He noted that because of poor security, farmers are abducted at will, adding that “last September 16, three female farm workers and a six-month-old baby were kidnapped. Two months later, precisely, November 16, four farmers were kidnapped from farmville. Also, on November 21, five workers were kidnapped from Kodjo Farms. On January 19, we also recorded another incident when two farm workers were kidnapped from Tanda Farms.
“The kidnappers also visited Elysian Farm, the farm managers and a customer were kidnapped on the same day. On February 14, the kidnappers returned to Elysian farms and kidnapped four workers, a casual worker, two vigilante group members. As at the last count, kidnappers were demanding N5million for each of the kidnapped seven people who are still in their captivity.
“As criminal continue to ravage our communities and our farms, we have met with the police commissioner, unfortunately whatever efforts the police must have made so far could not yield any result as the spate of kidnapping is on the increase. Even our private efforts in engaging community vigilantes to support the police have also not yielded any reprieve. Sometime, we have had to pay heavily for police to come to our farms.”
