Six local farmers in Osun state have appealed to the state government to come to their aid over the recent fire disaster that razed their cocoa and palm trees farmlands in Ikire farm settlement, Irewole local government council area.
According to these farmers, cocoa and palm tree plantations worth several millions of naira were burnt during the fire disaster.
The six affected farmers; Mr Sulaiman Morenikeji, Mr. Zakariyahu Atanda, Mr. Opejin Ayobami, Mr. Taofeek Sumbo, Mr. Muraina Fatai, and Mr. Jide Olayanju, made the pleas in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo, the state capital.
They said that assistance from the government would be imperative to save them from the present economic mess caused by the fire disaster at their farms.
The statement read: “On the 6th of February,2024, around 11:30a.m in the morning, we received a call from a co-farmer that a fire broke out on our farms located at Mokore farm settlement, Araromi Owu, Ikire in Osun state.
“On getting to the farm, the entire 15 hectares of farmland that are full of cocoa and palm trees are covered with thick black smoke of fire inferno on the farmland.
“Efforts to alert the co-farm owners proved abortive due to lack of telecommunication network around the farm premises but we tried to call the firefighter to put off the fire but we couldn’t achieve it due to lack of telecommunication network.”
They added, “After some hours, we decided to use a local method of quenching the fire inferno by using water, wet leaves, and dry sand but all our efforts didn’t work perfectly. Instead, the fire spread quite fast due to the presence of dry leaves, dry wood, and planks on the floor of the farmland.
“The fire continued to burn our farms till the next day and after much effort from the co-farmers the next day, we were able to bring down the fire but the major portion of our farms had been burnt down completely.”
The farmers therefore solicited the support of the state and federal government on this development to bail them from this incident.
