By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
The peaceful people of Gbolemotin, an autonomous Ijaw Community in Gbaran Clan, Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State, have appealed to the state government and the various security agencies to probe into the immediate and remote causes of the incident that has led to the killing of several persons in their community.
The call was contained in a statement titled “the people of Gbolemotin community, setting the record straight on the crisis between Yoruba farmers and community indigenes in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State, signed by Mr. Sunday Ekerekere on behalf of the community and made available to Journalists in Benin.
Recall that that there was clash between some alleged produce thieves believed to be Izon boys and some cocoa farmers in the locality.
It was gathered that the incident left many houses razed down in the attack and counter attacks and the state Police Public Relations Officer, Joel Yamu, said: “5 persons were confirmed dead while 4 others were injured in a clash.
Mr. Ekerekere said the picture of the crisis painted in the media about the Gbolemotin community is not the true picture. So, they have decided to set the record straight.
Ekerekere said the people of Gbolemotin have lived peacefully with its neighbours over the years, and that few decades ago, the Yoruba farmers encroached into their homeland and started planting cocoa trees.
Ekerekere added that, initially, this did not create any issues as the Yoruba farmers agreed to pay tokens for the areas they occupied while the indigenous farmers cultivated palm trees in the free areas allocated by the government for livelihoods.
He added that in the meantime, the Yoruba farmers focused on cocoa farming within the free access belonging to the Ijaws and beyond.
He said however, over time, the Yoruba farmers began expanding beyond the original areas they were allowed to plant, thereby encroaching on the free uncultivated lands reserved for Ijaw communities.
He said despite their repeated protests, they continued using their larger numbers and threats of government powers to dominate the farmlands.
He said as tensions grew, the cocoa farmers started accusing Ijaw farmers of stealing their cocoa seeds- an allegation that was completely unfounded stressing that they went further to prevent indigenes of Gbolemotin from passing through the roads and footpaths to other Ijaw communities.
He said whoever they see on the roads were labeled as thieves and beaten up with various degrees of injuries in the process.
He said to enforce their dominance, they formed a vigilante group that frequently harassed their farmers including women returning from their farms with farm produce and leaves for wrapping cooked food.
He alleged that the indigenes are always molested and their harvests were seized adding that, these acts of intimidation went unchecked largely because the local police in Iguobazuwa always take sides with the cocoa farmers and ignored their complaints.
While decrying that the narrative being pushed by cocoa farmers and widely reported in the media does not reflect the reality on ground, he said it is because their people have always been victims of intimidation, land encroachment, intimidation and violence for years; yet their voices have gone unheard.
He said they are therefore calling on the state government, security agencies and well meaning Nigerians to conduct a fair investigation into this matter and to understand that the Ijaw people of Gbolemotin have the right to live and farm on their lands in peace like every other indigenes of Edo State.
He said they are not aggressors, as they have only sought to protect their land, their lives and their livelihoods.
He further appealed to the state governor, Monday Okpebholo to set up independent panel of inquiry to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the crisis in order to prevent future occurrence.
His words “to assist the injured parties and rehabilitate those whose properties were destroyed, we also called on security agencies to act swiftly on reports bothering on issues capable of escalating the matter into a full blown crisis.
“We seek justice; we seek fairness and most importantly seek peace and development”, he said.
