Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) Ogun State Command have arrested a traditional ruler in Osun State, the Ologudu of Ogudu in Ife East Local Government Area, Oba Jimoh Ajayi Abiodun, for alleged terrorism and extortion of farmers within the Area J4 of Omo Forest Reserve in Ogun State.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>
A source in the Ogun State Command of the DSS who informed the Daily Sun of the arrest of the monarch, on Tuesday, said Oba Abiodun was arrested following a petition written by the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry against him and his gang members who have been terrorizing and extorting money from cocoa farmers operating inside the forest reserve which traverses Ijebu North and Ijebu East Local Government Areas of Ogun.
The source further disclosed that the monarch and one of his lieutenants, Bunmi Goroye, were nabbed by the combined team of operatives from the national headquarters of the DSS and the state commands on Sunday, May 5, 2004, at the Ologudu’s Palace in Ogudu Town, Osun State.
According to the source, the petition dated May 2, 2024, signed by the Ogun State Commissioner for Forestry, Oludotun Taiwo and addressed to the Director of the Department of State Security (DSS) Ogun State Command, indicated that the monarch and his gang members have continued to pressure timber contractors, cocoa farmers and residents of Ajegunle, Abeku, Kalaoju, Molafara and Baba-Ondo communities within Area J4 of Omo Forest Reserve, to pay money or face outright eviction.
“The Ologudu, according to the petition, have been going about forcing legal occupants, especially Cocoa farmers in the Forest Reserve belonging to Ogun State, to pay N80,000 per acre of land and failure to comply will attract confiscation of their farm produce and other personal property or outright eviction from the reserve.
“The monarch and his gang members were armed with sophisticated weapons such as guns, machetes, daggers and all sorts of charms. They would break into people’s houses and farms carting away farm produce such as cocoa and Kola nuts. They also engaged in the destruction of economic trees and woods.
“The gang further forced the farmers to make deposits into a bank account with account name: Forest Reserve Revenue Council with account number 1140298020 in Polaris Bank Plc”, the source stated.
He, however, said the second-in-command to the traditional ruler, one Segun Mayegun escaped arrest.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>
