A former Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia/Malawi, Mrs Folake-Marcus-Bello, has lost farm products running into millions of naira following the fire that gutted her farmland located in Onipepe axis of Obafemi-Owode local government area of Ogun State.
The fire incident which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday ravaged the 10 hectares of the farmland known as Folake B Farm, destroying over 500 oil palm trees among other farm products.
The source of the fire at the farmland located along Siun-Sagamu-Abeokuta expressway was still unknown as at the time of filing this report. It was reported to have lasted for about four hours, before it could be controlled.
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A visit by journalists showed that the farmland was badly destroyed, while different sources attributed the cause to some hunters who might have put fire in the neighbouring bush while trying to hunt games known as bush meat, while another source attributed it to arson.
The manager of the farm, Mrs Adesola Adebayo, who conducted reporters round the farmland said she got a phone call from the villagers at about 4.30pm, informing her about the fire, and had to rush down to the scene.
‘I am the farmland manager, I got information at about 4,30pm from the villagers informing me that fire has occurred in the farm, and had had to rush down. On getting to the farmland, the fire was spreading fast and we became helpless because of the volume of the spread’, she said.
‘I don’t know the cause of the fire, but maybe it was caused by hunters looking for bush meat, who might have put fire on the bush to track the animals. One cannot also rule out activities of some unscrupulous elements who may deliberately set the farmland on fire. The harmattan further worsen the situation’, Adebayo stated.
