One of them, who identified himself as Dele, said, “you can’t just enter here without being scrutinized or are you one of those sent by the government?” the shirtless young man said with a wrap of Indian hemp in his hand.
Explaining the reason for their suspicion, a lorry driver, named Friday, said some of them were apprehended by police in August while some escaped and since then, “we don’t take it lightly with any unknown face seen here because we can’t allow anyone to disturb us for trying to make a living.” “The job is not a type that gives peace of mind. I don’t have my own truck but I have different bosses who tell us where to go. I can tell you that we have eaten the whole reserve dry. You can hardly find any big and thick trees.“Hundreds of individuals survive on trees that come out of this forest.” When our correspondent asked him to link us with major dealers whom he has a history of working with, he said “No, that cannot be possible.
Joseph Ilori narrated how he was attacked in January on the forest for obstructing three lorries from transporting the trees they fell from the forest. “My encounter with illegal loggers happened last year while coming out of the forest. Myself and a colleague saw them packing timber and we brought out our identity card as security guards. While we were still interrogating them, some already started running.”
“Just try to be calm. Only him cannot conquer about six of us here. Let’s hear him out and know the reason why he came to the forest,” one of those who pleaded on behalf of this PREMIUM TIMES reporter said in Yoruba. Again, our correspondent’s motorcyclist intervened.When confronted with our findings, the Chairman of Ife Zonal Timber Contractors and Sawmillers Association, Lekan Olaobaju, defended the illegal activities of his members.
When PREMIUM TIMES asked why his members attack guards who try to stop them from carrying out their illegal activities, he said, “we don’t do that,” a statement contrary to what our correspondent found out in the forest.In pursuant to Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the state is empowered to protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wildlife of Nigeria.
“We are prepared to invoke the full weight of the law on anyone caught engaging in illegal land clearing for farming, uncontrolled logging, gathering of firewood and deforestation,” he said, at the time. “Despite the security guards in the forest, there are still some timber contractors falling trees recklessly without the knowledge of the government nor do they plant new ones. These are some of the problems we face.”
Also, the Director-General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Mutari Aminu-Kano, while speaking at 17th Chief S.L Edu Memorial Lecture with the theme, ‘A quiet revolution – Faith and the environment’, in Lagos saidSpeaking with our correspondent, Emmanuel Omisore, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the Obafemi Awolowo University said the activities of the illegal loggers may lead to erosion prevention, flood and water pollution.
Kogi state illicit timber business is even worst than that of osun especially in Kogi east region..