Ondo Farmers Condemns FG's Position against Amotekun

Farmers in Ondo State on Wednesday described the declaration of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, on the security outfit recently inaugurated by Southwest governors (Amotekun) as inhumane and illegal.

 The farmers under the auspices of Ondo State Agricultural Commodities Association (OSACA) said the position of the federal government through Malami, as unacceptable.

Addressing journalists at their Secretariat at Tradefair Centre, Akure, the state capital, the farmers described Amotekun as ray of hope to rescue them from the heinous activities of herdsmen who have been destroying their farms and raping their women without restraint.

The Chairman of the association, Mr. Gbenga Obaweya, said the security outfit jointly set up by the South-west governors would help ameliorate the economic loss they suffered annually from the Fulani herdsmen who grazed their crops.

 

"We say in clear terms that the declaration of Amotekun as an illegality is totally unacceptable to us. The formation and launch of Amotekun brought a ray of hope to us as farmers and ‘agropreneurs’ for a few days, but there is an attempt to dash all our hope.

"For years, we have sought peaceful means of protecting our farmlands and investments with very little success. Any attempt to shoot down this beacon of hope is a recipe for chaos and civil unrest.

"Will the pauperised farmer and distressed investor not be pushed to violence if they believe they have nobody to protect them?

 "We support the security outfit, Amotekun; we reject any proclamation that it is illegal; we demand that the national body of Miyetti Allah be called to order, and farmers who have been their victims should be compensated."

The group, therefore, called on "Ondo State Government through the state House of Assembly to pass the proposed bill on regulation of grazing activities that has been before them since 2018."