Ondo Farmers Block Highway, Accuse, Govt officials, of Land Takeover Plot

Hundreds of Ondo State farmers in the Oluwa Forest Reserve (OA3A) in Odigbo Local Government Area of the State have staged a major protest, accusing the Ondo State Government, and officials of SAO Agro-Allied Services Limited of attempting to forcefully evict them from farmlands they have cultivated for years, despite a subsisting court order halting such actions.

The farmers, wielding placards and banners, blocked a major highway and chanted slogans demanding justice and protection from what they described as state-backed land grabs.

The protest follows a March 24, 2025 inter- locutory injunction by the Ondo State High Court, which restrained both the state government and SAO Agro-Allied Services Ltd from carrying out further grading or eviction activities pending the final determination of the case filed by the farmers.

Some of the protesters bore signs that read, “Respect Court Orders; Stop the Oppression of Farmers at Oluwa Forest Reserve,” “All Oppressed Farmers, Unite!” and “Ayo Sotinrin, MD Bank of Agric, Is Using His Office to Persecute Poor Farmers; Rotimi Wemimo Must Go!”

According to reports, the pro- testers directly accused Dr. Ayo Sotinrin—recently appointed Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture and owner of SAO Agro-Allied Services Ltd—and Mr. Rotimi Wemimo Akinsola, Chairman of the Ondo State Agribusiness Empowerment Centre (OSAEC), of orchestrating the attempts to evict them. They also criticised Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for breaking promises made during previous meetings.

Musafiu Irewolede, one of the farmers, said: “Since 2019, we’ve been paying N20,000 per rope to farm here. Just about a month ago, bulldozers arrived again, despite a court injunction that stopped such actions. We paid for structures, security IDs, and the use of the land. They told us to our faces that they don’t give a damn about the court order.”

A “rope” (called “ròòpù” in Yoruba) is an informal unit of land area used in rural and agrarian settings. It originates from the practice of measuring land using actual ropes of standardised lengths.

This local system is still widely used in forest reserves, agrarian settlements, and community land allocations across parts of Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, and Ekiti states.

Felix Adeniyi, another farmer, lamented the impact of the dispute on their health and livelihood:

“We paid all our dues – ID cards, receipts, everything the governor asked for. Aiyedatiwa promised us no more bulldozers before the last governorship election, and we supported him. Now, not only are bulldozers back, they’ve come three times this week. Some people have had strokes because of this stress. This is the only means of survival for over 15,000 of us. We can’t steal, we can’t kidnap – all we want is to farm in peace.”