The Federal College of Agriculture (FECA), Akure, Ondo State, has appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in persistent land grabbing activities threatening its projects, infrastructure, and the safety of staff and students.
Speaking during a visit by the Executive Secretary of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Abubakar Dabban, Acting Provost of the college, Dr. Rasheed Folorunsho, said the institution has battled legal disputes with families claiming ownership of parts of its land for years, with the case still pending at the Supreme Court.
Folorunsho lamented that land grabbers had destroyed several of the college’s projects and created insecurity within the campus community. He warned that the institution’s mission to advance agricultural education and research could be severely undermined without urgent action.
“We have been affected in many ways. They have destroyed most of the college’s projects, and the lives of staff and students are not safe. Anytime we go out, we pray to God for a safe return. We are calling on the Federal Government to come to our aid and bail us out of this predicament,” he said.
Responding, ARCN’s Executive Secretary, Dabban, assured the college of support, revealing that the council had directed the institution to submit a memo detailing the situation.
“Rome was not built in a day. We are working around the clock to see that the issue is addressed. We don’t just want to dabble into the matter without having our facts,” he explained.
The land crisis is not new. In December 2023, then Provost, Dr. Albert Fadiyimu, had raised alarm that over 75 per cent of the college’s 1,100 acres of land had been encroached upon by land grabbers, warning that the institution faced looming extinction if the situation persisted.
