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From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
An Ondo State High Court sitting in Ondo, headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State will hear the application seeking to join Mr Babajide Akeredolu, son of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in a matter challenging the destruction of farmers’ cocoa plantations in Oluwa forest reserve in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.
Filing the application to join Babajide in the matter, counsel to the farmers, Tope Temokun told the court that it’s important to join Babajide because he allegedly gave the order for the clearing of the cocoa plantations as the Director General, Ondo State Performance and Project ., Implementation Monitoring Unit (PPIMU).
He told the court that several hectares of Cocoa plantations belonging to the farmers were allegedly destroyed by SAO Agro-Allied Services Limited.
While introducing himself, Dr Abudul-Kabir Ajana said he’s standing for all the respondents to the case, including Pastor Akin Olotu, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture and Agribusiness who is the fifth respondent.
He told the court that he had an application to file to vacate an interlocutory injunction granted the applicants on May 2, 2023 by the court.
But the counsel to the applicants told the court that there was no interlocutory injunction granted his clients by the court but rather an interim injunction.
Temokun told the court that there was an error in the service of the injunction by the court registry, therefore, he noted that the respondents could only file application for the error in the service.
On May 2, 2023, the court had granted the farmers interim order restraining the respondents from further clearing of the applicants’ cocoa plantations.
But when preparing the paper for the order, the court erroneously input interlocutory injunction instead of interim injunction and the error was subsequently rectified after the attorney to the applicants noticed the error when he was served the paper by the court.
Temokun noted that the attorney to the respondents also received the copy of the corrected version of the order granted by the court which was an interim order.
He, therefore, noted that there was no reason for the attorney to the respondents to file an application seeking the vacation of interlocutory Injunction which was not granted by the court.
Justice Aderemi Adegoroye, who presided over the court, held that he would give both applications hearing at the next sitting and rule over them.
Justice Adegoroye, therefore, adjourned to August 7, 2023.
