Ijebu Sawmillers and Timber Contractors (Ijebu Zone) have praised the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, for his recent action in ejecting illegal loggers and unauthorised occupants of the Area J1 and J2 forest reserves in the state.
The Ijebu sawmillers and contractors said the people of the state should be grateful to the Governor Abiodun administration and the Engineer Tunji Akinosi-led team for the decisive steps taken to remove the hideouts of the illegal loggers and other criminals, who had turned the Area J1 and J2 forest reserves to their enclaves.
They urged the state government and the team not to relent in their efforts to flush out the illegal loggers and all other unauthorised occupants from the forest reserves in the area.
The Ijebu Sawmillers and Timber Contractors stated this during a press conference held at their Zonal Secretariat in Ijebu Ode on Friday.
According to them, they called the press conference to debunk the lies allegedly being peddled by some highly placed persons in the area concerning the recent ejection of the illegal loggers and other unauthorised occupants of the forest reserves by the officials of the state government.
They said it had become imperative to put the records straight concerning the matter for the sake of posterity.
The Ijebu Sawmillers and Timber Contractors stated that the action of the state government against the illegal occupants of the forest reserves was in order and in accordance with the rules and regulations as laid down by the late sage and former first Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
They said it was this Awolowo’s legacy that the current administration in the state had been making efforts to preserve by insisting that the laid down rules for operators in the forest reserves must be strictly adhered to.
The Ijebu Sawmillers and Timber Contractors added that this was the reason behind the Governor Abiodun administration’s decision not to allow illegal loggers and other unauthorised occupants of the forest reserves to continue to flout these laid down rules and regulations.
They noted that by the action of the state government to flush the illegal occupants out of the forest reserves, the current administration had ensured that the labour of the heroes past was not in vain.
They, however, condemned statements by the Chairman, Ijebu East Local Government Area, Hon Wale Adedayo, that those illegal immigrants were the ones who that voted for the government.
They argued that majority of the illegal occupants of the forest reserves were “strangers who don’t vote during elections in Ogun State.”
They, therefore, advised the local government chairman against such utterances, saying he must have spoken out of ignorance since he was only elected into the office a few months ago and he was still “new in the system.”
The Sawmillers and Timber Contractors stated that the illegal loggers and unauthorised occupants of the forests would only end up “destroying our own heritage and go back to their own territories.”
They accused them of destroying the “heritage trees” that were planted during the days of the late sage, Chief Awolowo.
Such economic trees allegedly destroyed by the illegal forest reserve occupants include Mahogany, Opepe, Cinderella, Pounds, Black Afara and Mellania, to mention a few.
The Sawmillers and Timber Contractors said the modus operandi of these illegal occupants of the forest reserves was the destruction of the heritage economic trees and their replacement with only Cocoa trees.
They, therefore, advised the Ogun State Government to restore the nine forest reserves in the state as well as send the Cocoa farmers in the various reserves back to the farm settlements to preserve the state’s forestry endowments and resources.
They restated their support and backing for the actions being taken by the Ogun State Government to eradicate the activities of illegal loggers and other unauthorised persons occupying the forest reserves in the state.
Some of the Ijebu Sawmillers and Timber Contractors present at the press conference were Alhaji Aliu Ibrahim, Mr Opeoluwa Idowu , Mr Isiaka Shittu, Pastor Kayode Oladipupo, Pastor Akin Mikewure Funmilayo, Mr Thomas Dehinbo and others.