The Ogun State Government has intensified efforts to remove illegal settlers from the state’s nine gazetted forest reserves, the Commissioner for Forestry, Taiwo Oludotun, has said.
Oludotun disclosed this in an interview with Saturday PUNCH on Friday, saying the government had conducted several enforcement operations following the issuance of quit notices to people occupying the reserves illegally.
The commissioner said some of the settlers were non-indigenes from Osun, Kwara, Ondo, Benue and parts of northern Nigeria.
He said the government had encountered resistance in its efforts to clear the forests, adding that some occupants had remained despite previous enforcement operations.
“We have made some enforcement to make sure we chase them out of the forest, but we have discovered that some of them still stay. They have become a menace to us, and this is not allowed within our forest reserves because they end up destroying our forests,” Oludotun said.
He maintained that the reserves were designated as forest areas and were not intended for residential or farm settlements.
“The forest reserve is not a habitation for people to live. It is a forest, not a farm settlement or a residential area,” he said.
Oludotun said the continued presence of unauthorised occupants posed a threat to the state’s forest resources and government operations.
He also expressed concern about the identities and activities of some of those living in the reserves, saying the government was unable to establish their backgrounds.
The commissioner, however, said investigations had shown that some of the settlers were indigenes of Ogun State, while others came from neighbouring states and northern parts of the country.
“We are doing everything within the state government’s power, legally, to chase them out, and we will continue to do that until they leave the forest,” he said.
The nine gazetted forest reserves in the state are Omo, Olokemeji, Ilaro/Ipake, Ohumbe/Oja-Odan, Aworo, Eggua, Edun Stream, Arakanga and Imeko.
Oludotun said the government had also stepped up patrols and surveillance across the reserves with the involvement of the Amotekun Corps.
He said the deployment was intended to complement the work of forest guards and strengthen efforts to protect the state’s forest estate from illegal occupation and activities.
