Farmers Lament Destruction Of Farmlands By Miners In Atorin-Ijesa

 

• Residents Struggle To Get Potable Water

Yusuf Oketola

FARMERS in Atorin-Ijesa in Atakumosa East local government of the State of Osun have lamented destruction of their farmlands by miners in the area. 

OSUN DEFENDER, in a three minutes video watched on the Facebook page of Urban Alert, a non-governmental organisation in the state, observed that the unabated activities of a mining firm, Lee Wei Wei, has contributed to environmental degradation and loss of farm produce in the community.

Residents of the area also struggle to get potable water for drinking, as some of their sources of water has been polluted.

Speaking in the video, a farmer and traditional Chief in the area, Babatunde Ajayi, whose cocoa and palm oil farmland was destroyed as a result of mining activities lamented the development and sought for justice. 

Ajayi said: “On July 15, 2021, gold miners encroached on a portion of my land, Hon. Sanya Omirin was among those that brought the people into my farm to mine gold. All the designated Chiefs in Aye Aluko also colluded with the miners to destroy this place but up till now, I have not been given a dime.

“I have reported this matter to the police and the case is presently at the court. When the police officers asked If I signed any documents before the mining activities by the Chinese Lee Wei Wei on my land, I replied no. The non-consent is why I am still winning at the court today”. 

Ajayi is one of many farmers in the community struggling to keep a livelihood after the miners destroyed their farmlands. 

Narrating his ordeal in the video, the Otun Baale of Ajebamidele Community, Chief Mukaila Adisa, said Chinese miners also entered his leased land where he planted cocoa.

Adisa said: “We didn’t benefit anything from them (miners). They only made us to suffer. I am one of those who went to meet them and asked them to dig a well for us for portable water but they did nothing till they left the area.

“Our wives fetch water from far distance and we buy bags of sachet water to drink.”