Palpable tension on Thursday enveloped the agrarian community in Illushi, Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State, over the alleged killing of some youths by soldiers, said to have been brought to the community by a company allegedly venturing into agriculture in the area.
The community also accused one Samuel Offor of leasing 5,000 hectares of their land to the company identified as Skaff Agro Farms Limited, without the consent of the people while a traditional rulership tussle was still pending in court.
In his reaction to the allegation, Offor said he knew nothing about the killings and that the people had been fighting him over his property, just as the Managing Director of the company, Anthony Skaff, debunked all the allegations levelled against him and his company.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, 4 Brigade Nigeria Army, Major Ojo Adenegan, aborted the call immediately the subject matter was introduced and did not pick repeated calls made to him thereafter.
Youth Leader of Illushi, Mr Lucky Chibogwu, addressing newsmen on Thursday said, the incident happened on April 13, at about 3 pm as soldiers came into the community, shooting, beating up people and leaving three persons dead.
Corroborating the account, Pa Richard Aghedo, said that on a fateful day, “A truckload of soldiers came into our community and started shooting and beating everybody before we knew it, three persons were shot dead, even till now four of our youths are still missing. We didn’t do anything, we didn’t fight them.”
“Skaff Company announced its presence in the community with brute force and I-don’t-care attitude. They started by destroying communal shrines, homes, and farms of community members. As farms and homes were going down by Skaff’s bulldozers, including 100s of acres of pawpaw, banana, plantain and palm plantations were also destroyed.
“The community through its lawyer at the time approached the court seeking an injunction restraining Skaff from carrying on activities on the land in question pending when the dispute is resolved”, Aghedo added.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…
Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train
The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…