At least 50 acres of palm trees and pineapples, worth N150 million, were destroyed by an inferno at Royal Farm in Akeredolu Village, Osu, Atakumosa West Local Government Area of Osun.
The founder of the farm, Rufus Jegede, who disclosed this at a news conference on Sunday, said the incident occurred on Friday.
Mr Jegede said he started the farm, comprising palm oil production, animal husbandry, such as piggery and cattle rearing, and other arable cropping, in 2015 after his retirement.
He said that before the incident, at least 50 kegs of palm oil were produced per week, while about 500 tons of pineapples were harvested annually.
Mr Jegede said he lost close to 4,000 palm trees and five acres of pineapple farm, as they were badly burnt, lamenting that with the incident, there would be no harvest from the palm trees and pineapples this year.
He said that only his farm was destroyed by the fire, thus suspecting that some hoodlums, whom he described as “wicked individuals”, might have set the farm ablaze.
“This is the third time that the farm would be ravaged with fire since its establishment,” he said.
Mr Jegede further stated that a man, identified as Sunday, who used to disturb, steal, and harvest their plantain and pineapple, had been apprehended in connection with the fire.
He complained of laziness among some youths, who were not ready to contribute their quota toward making Nigeria greater.
“Most of the people doing farming in Osun are northerners and foreigners. It appears as if our youths are not interested,” he added.
Mr Jegede, however, expressed the regret that despite the popularity of the farm, no government agency had come to visit the facility, adding that there had also been no intervention or support from anywhere.
He called on the government to prioritise agriculture by making policies to further encourage farming in the country.
