- Tension mounts between Idofoi, Owo, Ipaya, Imala over disputed lands
The people of Idofoi, Owo and Ipaya communities have appealed to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State to urgently implement a 28-year-old judgment of the state Boundary Dispute Appeal Tribunal granting them total ownership and control of their respective homelands, located in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state.
They urged Governor Amosun to implement, not only the letters, but also the spirit of the Appeal Tribunal’s judgment.
Only panacea to lasting peace is implementation of the judgment
The people further detailed the acts of violence, abductions and killings allegedly perpetrated against their kinsmen in Idofoi, Owo and Ipaya lands by the neighbouring Imala in Abeokuta North Local Government Area, saying these were due to the non-implementation of the tribunal’s judgment by the state government.
According to them, implementing the judgement had become imperative to avoid an escalation of the tension that had continued to mount in their areas for decades over a boundary dispute with their Yewa kinsmen in Imala.
Justice Adewale Thompson of the Western Region High court, which sat in Abeokuta, had, on September 23, 1968, delivered a judgment conferring the proprietary interest and control of the lands in dispute on the descendants of Ondofoi, Etilaporan and Adegoolu, the respective founders of Idofoi, Owo and Ipaya communities in Ayetoro-Yewa.
The court, in suit number AB/20/64, had also decided that the lands owned and occupied by the people of the three communities, and covered by Survey Plan L&LA/5530, did not belong to the Omala of Imala, another Yewa community which is under the administrative control of the neighbouring Abeokuta North Local Government Council.
Also, 24 years after the court’s decision, a judgement of the Ogun State Boundary Dispute Appeal Tribunal in suit number AB/27A/86, granted Yewa North Local Government the legal right and delegation to administer and control everything above, on and under the land covered by Survey Plan L&LA/5530.
But the people of the three communities wondered why successive governments in Ogun State had refused to implement the judgement of the Boundary Dispute Appeal Tribunal, which is the final court of appeal on the matter, despite consistent reminders and supplications sent to them since 1989.
The people of the communities, in a memorandum already submitted to the Ogun State Boundary Adjustment Commission at the Governor’s Office in Abeokuta, the state capital, said that they “remained committed to the actualisation of their persistent demand neither to serve the Omala of Imala, nor be governed by any local government/council other than the Yewa North Local Government Area.”
The memorandum was jointly signed by the traditional rulers of the communities, including the Baale of Idofoi, Ayetoro, Chief Olatunji Abioro; the Basorun-designate of Idofoi, Alhaji Bello Jimoh; the Baale-elect of Obada (Owo), Chief Jimoh Fagbohun; Olotu, Obada Owo, Senior Apostle Benjamin Oluwole; the Baale-elect of Ipaya Adegoolu, Chief Alao Olabode; and Ekerin of Ipayaland, Chief Waidi Adeyeri,
They also argued that the Ogun State Boundary Adjustment Committee had no better role or concern on the issue of boundary adjustment between Oke-Ogun Local Council Development Area in Abeokuta North Local Government, Afon Local Council Development Area and Yewa North Local Government Area than to advise the Ogun State Government to fully implement, without further delay, the July 6, 1989 judgment of the state Boundary Dispute Appeal Tribunal.
The memorandum also detailed the various unsuccessful efforts made by the three communities since 2007 to bring the existence of the 1989 judgement of the state Boundary Dispute Appeal Tribunal to the notice of Governor Amosun for implementation.
It stated, “When no action appeared to be taken, the three communities wrote an SOS petition, dated 11th November 2013, to remind the Ogun State Governor of our hearts’ desires. The petition was signed by 2,403 indigenes of Idofoi/Owo/Ipaya and delivered to the Governor’s Office on 23 November 2013.
“As an elder statesman and traditional leader of a peace-loving people, the Baale of Idofoi, Ayetoro (tile-toko), Baale Olatunji Abioro JP, wrote a personal letter to the Governor to ensure that justice was done to the people of Idofoi, Owo and Ipaya. The letter, dated 27th April 2015, was sent through courier mail.”
The memorandum further stated, “The Idofoi, Owo and Ipaya communities have effectively utilised all necessary available administrative and legal processes in Ogun State with facts and documents, to prove conclusively, as descendants of Ondofoi, Adegoolu and Etilaporan, the founders of Idofoi, Ipaya and Owo, respectively, that the piece of land contained in the Survey Plan No. L&LA 5530 rightly belong to Idofoi, Ipaya and Owo, respectively, and the political administration is that of Yewa North Local Government.
“Any claim (s) by any Local Government or Council other than Yewa North Local Government on any part of the land is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void and of no
effect.”
