Cocoa farmers at the Oluwa Forest Reserve in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State are seeking assistance from the state Commissioner of Police, Asabi Abiodun, following alleged attacks by suspected hoodlums. The farmers claim that the attacks began after a state High Court in Ore issued a restraining order against the state government and other defendants regarding the land in question.

According to the farmers, an agro-allied company has been asserting that the cocoa farmlands were leased to them by the state government. However, the farmers explain that a court injunction was served to the company in May of this year, prohibiting any activities on the land. Despite this, the farmers state that they have been continuously targeted by hoodlums in the area.

The chairman of the cocoa farmers in the community, Mr. Abayomi Isinleye, reveals that the suspected hoodlums are attacking them in an attempt to force them off the farmland. In response to the situation, the farmers have submitted a protest letter to the office of the state's Commissioner of Police through their lawyer, Mr. Tope Temokun.

Isinleye further explains that their camp was attacked by gunmen, believed to be sponsored, and during the encounter, the farmers pursued the attackers. They managed to recover two guns and some motorcycles from the assailants. The recovered items, along with bullets and caps, have been taken to the police area command in Ore to formally lodge a complaint.

The farmers had previously filed a case in court regarding the invasion and grading of their cocoa farmlands in the reserve, as well as the forceful attempt to evict them. An interim injunction was granted by the Ondo State High Court in Ore, presided over by Justice Aderemi Adegoroye, restraining the state government and others from further grading or continuing activities on the cocoa plantations and farmlands.

The farmers view these actions as a threat to their livelihoods and describe the situation as a call to anarchy. They emphasize that the farmlands are their only source of survival. Mr. Odugemi Omolewa, the group's secretary, appeals to the state government to intervene and prevent their eviction, as many farmers' relatives have already passed away and children have been forced to withdraw from school due to the inability to work on the farmlands during the ongoing crisis.

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