Kwara governor calls for calm over Supreme Court judgment on Offa, Erin-Ile boundary dispute

The Kwara State State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has called on the people of Erin-Ile and Offa to maintain the peace in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment on the boundary dispute between the two communities in the southern senatorial district of the state.

The Supreme Court on December 14, 2018 affirmed its decision of December 10, 1973 that the disputed parcel of land in the boundary between the two communities belongs to Erin-Ile.

The two communities have a long history of boundary disputes that on many occasions degenerated into violence.

According to a report by The Punch newspaper, the judgment, if executed, will lead to the takeover of lands on which the multimillion naira Offa Descendants Union Secretariat, Avalon Hotels, buildings and some federal government institutions such as the Federal Polytechnic, Offa and PHCN substation are sited.

In a statement on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Muyideen Akorede, the governor said the state government was employing dialogue towards finding an amicable and sustainable solution to the dispute. and urged the people to refrain from publishing or circulating unauthorised interpretations of the judgment.

Mr Ahmed pledged that the state government would continue to uphold the welfare and security of all citizens and residents of Offa, Erin-Ile and indeed all communities in the state.

He, therefore, urged residents in all parts of the two towns to go about their normal and lawful activities as the government is currently in consultation with leaders of both communities to resolve the issue.

Mr Ahmed described Erin-Ile and Offa as peace-loving, long-standing neighbours with a shared commitment to developing an atmosphere of mutual trust and peaceful coexistence. He stressed that government would do all in its power to sustain that understanding.