Over 100 farmers affected by the construction of the Ekiti Cargo Airport staged a protest on Monday at the Governor’s Office in Ado Ekiti.
According to The PUNCH, these farmers, hailing from communities like Igbogun, Afao, Araromi Obo, Aso Ayegunle, and Igbemo Ekiti, carried placards expressing their dissatisfaction with the government’s failure to fulfill compensation promises.
The spokesperson for the aggrieved farmers and the Edemon of Igbemo Ekiti, Chief Awe Ojo, highlighted that since their meeting with Governor Biodun Oyebanji in June, there had been no communication from the state government regarding their compensation.
Ojo said, “We have it on good authority that after our meeting with the governor in June, nothing has been done so far because some government officials are out to frustrate our efforts to get what rightly belongs to us.
“We know the governor, Biodun Oyebanji, as a promise keeper and for him not to have done as promised means that the story circulating that some fraudulent government officials, who are in charge of disbursing our entitlements, are hiding the files and documents for their selfish interests.”
A farmer, Elder Peter Oso, said about 11 persons among them had died.
“Apart from the dead ones, so many others are on their sickbeds and have no means to settle their bills since their source of livelihood has been destroyed.
“The governor met us in June and we thought our prayers had been answered because he promised us two weeks. Now the two weeks have turned to four months,” he lamented.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Kolawole Ajobiewe, who attended to the farmers who were protesting, urged restraint and assured them that the governor had already discussed the issue.
Ajobiewe said, “Let me address our fathers and mothers to be calm. The governor is aware and I want to assure us all that very soon, there will be news of joy.”
