Loggers Protest Close Down of Edo Forests By Obaseki

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Vehicular movements on roads in Benin City were disrupted yesterday for several hours following a protest by loggers in Edo State, who accused the state government of closing down the forests in the last seven months which has subjected over 8,000 of their members involved in timber operations and their dependants to hardship.

The protesters who carried placards with several inscriptions against the state government alleged that whereas indigenes of the state were not allowed into the forests, some Chinese who are also into logging were being given access.

Speaking to journalists at the Edo State Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Secretary of Edo Sawmillers Association, Dr. Nosa Abosanmwan, said “Our workforce is over 8,000 and all of them are at home. You can imagine the number of people depending on them, many of these workers have families and you can imagine the ripple effects this is having on us.
“We supported the governor when he was contesting but we didn’t know he would put us into suffering this way.”

Abosanmwan, who noted that the painful aspect was that all the forests were closed to indigenes but opened to the Chinese to pick woods anyway they like, pointed out that their protest was based on the fact that they did not want to take laws into their hands.

He said the governor made series of promises to them during the election but none was kept, adding that the association would continue the protest until the governor listens to them and meet their demand.

Also, the Chairman Edo State Timber Lorry Owners, Walter Osadolor, said there were about 2,000 trucks in the state and each has three to four workers, and appealed to the public to prevail on the state government to allow them to go back to the forest.

Reacting to the development, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr. Adaze Emwanta, said the state was carrying out reforestation and that many of the loggers were carrying out illegal operations in the forests.

Emwanta, who denied the allegation that Chinese operators access the forests more than indigenes, added that the government had commenced a meeting with the leadership of the unions to carry them along in the new regulations in Edo forests.