ABEOKUTA — AN advocacy group, Ibile Justice Forum, yesterday, raised the alarm over illegal mining activities in Iloro I, Iloro II and Ibiri villages, in Ado-Odo community of Ogun State, urging the state and Federal Governments to recover their farmlands for the community.
The forum, in a statement by Messrs Ifeoluwa Amoo and Ganiu Owolabi, described as worrisome attempts by the management of a firm (names withheld), to embark on mining in a farm settlement otherwise dedicated to agriculture development, thereby disrupting the livelihoods of the agrarian community.
It said: “We are constrained to speak against the deliberate actions of the said company, whose actions and inactions have rendered our community entirely prostrate, economically disadvantaged, and environmentally unsafe, with other clear and present dangers staring us in the face.
“We are talking about a situation where our collective patrimony is being arbitrarily exploited by a company to the detriment of the community whose livelihoods have not only been hijacked but left in ruins and destruction as a result of the nefarious activities being perpetuated within their community.
“We are even more worried that these nefarious activities are being aided and abetted by the so-called traditional institutions, which ordinarily are supposed to be the custodian of the customs of the community, all for their selfish aggrandisement and craze for the filthy lucre.
“We are aware that the company was directed by the Ministry of Agriculture, in a memo dated January 28, 2025, to stop all mining activities, having withdrawn the initial approval granted to the company on December 5, 2024. But why the company chose to remain on site and carry on with the exploration activities in defiance of the order by the Ministry is indeed baffling and worrisome.”
VANGUARD.
