- Oba Aromolaran accuses Itagunmodi monarch of aiding, abetting illegal miners
…says traditional ruler leased palace to Chinese miners, relocate to Ilesa
- Ijesa paramount ruler is a liar, I only rented out my personal house – Atagunmodi
There is, indeed, no love lost between the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, who is also the paramount ruler of Ijesaland, and the Atagunmodi of Itagunmodi, Oba Michael Famadewa-Kosile.
The bone of contention between the two royal fathers is the menace posed by non-indigenous and foreign illegal miners in the area. Communities in the area are richly endowed with gold and other precious stones, attracting illegal miners from the Northern part of the country, the neighbouring Niger Republic and even from far away China.
Communities in the state, including Owu-Epe, Igun, Ijana, Iperindo, Itagunmodi and Osu, headquarters of Atakunmosa East Local Government Area, have this precious metal in abundance.
Oba Aromolaran, however, recently caused a stir at a security meeting in the state when he accused Oba Famadewa-Kosile of not only aiding and abetting these illegal miners, but also harbouring them in his palace. The security meeting had in attendance the Governor of Osun State, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, who was the host, and the top brass of the security organisations represented in the state, including the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
To sensitise the people of the state on the rising crime wave in the mining communities, to check the activities of criminals operating under the guise of being miners and to halt environmental challenges arising from increased mining activities, the state government had organised a State Security Sensitization Meeting with stakeholders in the Ife/Ijesa Zone at a popular hotel along the Ijebu-Jesa Road, Ilo-Ayegunle, Ilesa, recently.
But while speaking during the meeting, Oba Aromolaran, the paramount ruler of Ijesaland had revealed how some traditional rulers had allegedly been aiding and abetting illegal mining in the affected areas, accusing them of harbouring and even selling community lands to the illegal miners to carry out their illegal operations.
The Owa Obokun, who shocked the governor and the security chiefs at the meeting, specifically identified one of the traditional rulers in the affected communities, the Atagunmodi of Itagunmodi, Oba Michael Famadewa-Kosile, of being an alleged culprit.
The paramount ruler of Ijesaland accused Oba Famadewa-Kosile of even leasing out a section of his palace to some illegal miners to live in, in exchange for huge financial rewards.
Oba Aromolaran alleged that Oba Famadewa-Kosile had to leave his domain and relocate to Ilesa to give room to the illegal miners he had rented a part of his palace to.
Speaking in Yoruba, Oba Aromolaran said, “Our people need to be protected from criminal tendencies. It’s unfortunate that some traditional rulers are the ones condoning the operations of these illegal miners.
“It will shock you to discover that Loja of Atagunmodi rented a good part of his palace to illegal miners because of money. He has even abandoned his palace. He now lives in Ilesa.”
The Ijesa monarch also appealed to the state government to protect the people of Osun from kidnappers and other criminals now operating in the state.
Oba Aromolaran lamented the alarming rate of insecurity in his domain and other communities in his area.
The monarch also asked residents to be vigilant, tasking government to do the needful in checkmating insecurity in the state.
“So, I want the government to protect our people from the rising insecurity in the state and let everyone be vigilant,” he said.
I ONLY LEASED MY PERSONAL PROPERTY TO MINERS, NOT THE PALACE- Atagunmodi
Boiling with rage in his reaction, the Atagunmodi of Itagunmodi, Oba Michael Famadewa-Kosile, denied the allegations leveled against him by Oba Aromolaran.
The monarch said he only leased out his personal house to some Chinese miners, who were introduced to him by Oba Aromolaran.
Oba Famadewa-Kosile expressed shock that Oba Aromolaran could “lie” against him, saying he had never supported the illegal mining activities going on in his domain as alleged by the first class traditional ruler of Ijesaland.
Displaying copies of some documents indicating that he truly owned the private building he claimed to have leased out to the Chinese miners, Oba Fadadewa-Kosile said he would never desecrate his palace by housing illegal miners.
The Atagunmodi in his reaction said, “I want the public to know that Oba Aromolaran lied. There was no time I leased out my palace to miners. I only rented my personal building to some Chinese miners, who were introduced to me by Oba Aromolaran himself. These are documents showing that I built the house I rented out.
“I am the owner of the house; I can’t rent out the palace. In fact, I have been hospitalised since I escaped from the Fulani men who kidnapped me and made away with the N1.7million in my car then.
“These miners have been in my town since 1952 and I have never wanted them in my domain. But when I was appeased by some people who said that I should allow them to stay and they said it would be against the law for me to chase people away from my domain; that’s why I am calling on the state government to stop mining operations immediately.”
The Itagunmodi monarch, therefore, warned Oba Aromolaran against dragging his name and repute in the mud, saying he had earlier raised the alarm over the influx of illegal miners into his domain but the state government did nothing about the untoward development.
STOP ILLEGAL GOLD MINING OPERATIONS IN OSUN NOW, monarch tells governor
Meanwhile, Oba Michael Famadewa-Kosile has once again cried out over the continued insecurity posed to life and property in his domain by the influx of illegal gold miners into his
community.
The monarch, who is ruling over the Itagunmodi community, which has a large deposit of gold, asked Governor Oyetola to, as a matter of urgency, order the stoppage of gold mining activities in his domain and other gold mining sites in the state.
The Oba lamented that his subjects lived in abject poverty, despite the huge deposits of precious mineral resources dotting their land.
He added that some farmers in the area could no longer cultivate their lands because their farms had been destroyed by illegal miners scavenging for
gold.
The traditional ruler, who was kidnapped on May 30, last year, by some Fulani men, but later escaped from captivity, said his domain had no longer been secure ever since non-indigenes from the northern part of the country, and foreigners from China and Niger Republic invaded the area in search of gold.
According to the Oba, the stoppage of the mining operations will check the rate of kidnapping, theft and killings in the state.
He said some of the illegal miners would be forced to quit the state once laws banning mining operations came into force, adding that the state government had not been up and doing regarding the activities of illegal gold
miners.
The Atagunmodi lamented that his domain could not even boast of good water, electricity and security, despite sitting on rich gold deposits.
Asked if there was security in Itagunmodi and its environs, Oba Famadewa-Kosile said, “If there was security, would I be kidnapped, beaten and dehumanised by 20 Fulani men who abducted me? There is no security, no water and other infrastructure in my community. We are not benefiting anything, despite being lucky to have gold in my domain.
“The best way the government could tackle this menace, for now, is to stop gold mining operations. This will even bring sanity to these affected communities.”
Despite the large deposits of gold dotting the various communities in Atakunmosa West and Atakunmosa East Local Government Areas of Osun State, the people of the area as well as citizens of the 28-year-old state are still grappling with poverty and underdevelopment.
Gravely affected by this situation are the indigenes of these gold-rich communities, whose lives are currently endangered due to the environmental degradation occasioned by the activities of non-indigenous and foreign miners, who seize the opportunity in the illegal exploitation of gold to make huge income on a daily basis.
Poverty and deprivation are common features in these gold-rich communities, owing to the absence of social amenities, including potable water, motorable roads, functioning health facilities and security.
At the meeting, some other speakers, including security chiefs from the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, decried the high rate of influx of strangers to these gold-rich communities. They stated that illegal miners from Niger Republic, Zamfara, Kano, Bauchi and Niger states had invaded the communities to scavenge
for gold.