The Ogun State Government has given all Ijebu Timber contractors a seven-day ultimatum, to provide those who cut trees in the Queen’s and Buffer Zones, Area J1, the forests reserve for the elephants.

Commissioner for Forestry, Engr. Tunji Akinosi, issued the directive while addressing the contractors at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, indicating that failure to identify them within the stipulated period from Friday, October 15, would lead to forfeiture of their agreements.

Akinosi, said despite regular monitoring by forest officers and media sensitisation, the illegal loggers still perpetrated the abominable act in areas demarcated for elephants, saying the violators would be taken with iron hands

“We will ensure that our monitoring is regular and announcements are made daily on radio and Television in all the State’s dialects, to keep people out of the areas allocated to elephants in the forest, the directive were still defied with reckless impunity and we will not take it lightly”, he said.

The Commissioner who insisted that the given ultimatum remained sacrosanct said government would take immediate action on any act of lawlessness whenever it occurred, refusing the contractors’ requests for additional time to produce the defaulters.

Meanwhile, two groups of the Ogun Waterside Timber Contractors Association, led by Comrade Ajayi Olusegun, have been warned to stop sales and supply of their logs and timbers to the markets within the State.

The Commissioner said an agreement between the contractors and the government was that timber from Waterside must be transported to Lagos for sales, adding that the State had over 180 sawmills that are enough to supply adequate timbers across the State’s market.

He stated that any Ogun Waterside vehicle found with logs in other territory would be considered as one used to perpetrate illegal felling, saying laws must be obeyed in line with stipulated agreements.

In his response, the association’s leader, Comrade Olusegun, assured of their total compliance to the directive, promising to support the government in its policies.