Ondo college decries ‘attacks’ on staff, students in land dispute

The management of the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA) in Ondo has raised the alarm on what it described as “attacks” on its staff and students by land grabbers.

Akinyemi Fadiyimu, the institution’s provost, spoke in Akure on Thursday.

Fadiyimu said five different litigations have been filed by individuals trying to lay claim to the college’s land.

He said three-quarters of the institution’s land would be gone if the court ruled in favour of the people that instituted legal actions against the institution.

The FECA provost said students and staff members are facing security risks associated with the dispute, which he said is causing a distraction for the institution.

Fadiyimu said there is a need to educate people that the institution requires a large mass of land to operate.

“Our greatest threat here is the issue of land grabbing. Land grabbers want to forcefully encroach on our land,” he said.

“We are facing five litigations from people who are trying to lay claim to this college. On several fronts, different persons are laying claim to our land. The issues are so serious.

“If perchance we should lose those cases, the land available to this college will be reduced by three-quarters. Only one quarter will be left for us to operate.

“They come in all the time to attack our staff and students. It is a lot of security risk for staff and students.

“The location of the college is attractive to land speculators. They should leave us alone to develop and be able to serve the society.”

Besides the attack, Fadiyimu said the removal of colleges of education from benefitting from the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) caused a serious infrastructural deficit in the institution.

He said it was unfortunate that the college has not been receiving the needed patronage of both the state and the federal government.

“There are a lot of developmental project activities lacking in the institution. There is a dearth of infrastructure. The FG has been shortchanging us since 2010,” he said.

“We were removed from benefitting from TETFUND. In 2010 all Colleges of Education were exempted but state universities are benefiting from it.

“State governments are not establishing a College of Agriculture because they will not have access to TETFUND.

“We are talking about food security, agricultural development. Our graduates are able to ensure we achieve technological advancement. We are critical stakeholders in agricultural development in this country.”