There was a barrage of public outrage by residents and passersby after a lifeless body of a woman was found in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
Reports say, the deceased was beaten to death by yet to be identified individuals for allegedly encroaching into a rice farm belonging to a Multinational farming company, Olam, in Rukubi, Doma Local Government Area.
The woman was found death alongside a sack filled with paddy rice suspected to be harvest from Olam farm.
A resident of the area, Tanko Barnabas who expressed sadness over the unfortunate event revealed that the company have been operating in the area with impunity.
He alleged that the security operatives attached to the multinational company were responsible for the demise of the woman.
Mr Barnabas stated that the deceased only visited the farmland to pick remnants after harvest by the company.
He also alleged that the company is doing more harm than good to its host communities and called on the relevant authorities to intervene.
Apart from its failure to carry out its corporate social responsibility, Barnabas claimed that the chemicals used by Olam on its rice farms were impacting the host communities negatively.
Also commenting on the incident, another resident, identified as Bala Danladi who expressed his displeasure over the killing of the woman however denied the claims that the company has failed in its social responsibilities to the host communities.
Danladi insisted that the host communities have benefited a lot from the company’s corporate social responsibility interventions over the years.
According to him, apart from providing some basic infrastructure such as access roads, boreholes and solar light, students from the host communities had enjoyed scholarships provided by the company.
Meanwhile, as of the time of filing this report, efforts to reach the company for comment over the allegations were futile.
