Osun boundary dispute: Ilobu, Ifon-Orolu indigenes in fresh tension

The Ilobu Asaka Development Union (IDU) has described a statement alleging that the Olobu of Ilobu, Oba Asiru Olatoye Olaniyan was planning to develop a disputed parcel of land as inciting and malicious.

In a statement signed by the Union’s National President, Pastor Oluremi Salako and obtained by Track News on Monday, he described the statement credited to Prince Jide Akinyooye as spurious and unfounded.

While affirming that nobody from Ilobu had been developing or was making efforts to commence development on the disputed land at Gbere area, IDU warned that if there was any breach of peace between the people of Ilobu and people of Ifon-Osun, Prince Jide Akinyooye and his financiers should be blamed and held responsible.

According to the statement, “To put the record straight, the residents of the Opapa approached the Olobu for assistance to get some drainage culverts fixed ahead of the rainy season.

“This was after they had made frantic efforts on their own to fix the structure that may later make the road totally impassable. This is in preparation for the rainy season as the road is critical to the transportation of farm items to urban centers.

“The monarch, being a father to all, swiftly mobilised his personal resources to aid in fixing the road and get the culvert done. This rehabilitation is ongoing in Opapa not Gbere as alleged.

“We also wish to express that Opapa village is different from Gbere and it’s about 5km from each other. Opapa exclusively belongs to Ilobu and has never been a subject of dispute. Uncontroverted documentary evidence is available to support this. Annexing it to Gbere by the Ifon-Osun people is mischievous. Opapa is not Gbere!”

IDU also maintained that Oba Olaniyan and indeed the people of Ilobu are law abiding citizens of Osun State who have been living peacefully with people of Ifon-Osun even in the face of unnecessary acts of provocation.

Earlier on Monday, a community-based group, the Ifon-Orolu Progressive Union (IPU) had called on the Osun State Government to as a matter of urgency prevail on the Olobu of Ilobu, Oba Olatoye Olaniyan, the Olobu of Ilobu, not to cause another communal crisis between the people of Ifon-Osun and Ilobu.

IPU also maintained that the call became necessary in the overall interest of peaceful coexistence between the two communities.

In a statement signed by Prince Jide Adelaja Akinyooye, on behalf of IPU, the group stated that it had become imperative to call the attention of the Osun State Government and security agencies to the alleged grand schemes by the people of Ilobu community to cause mayhem that would reignite a fresh communal clash between the people of Ilobu and the ancient Ifon-Osun Kingdom.

In February, 2021, there were communal clashes between the two communities which share a common boundary in the State.

As a result of the clash, lives were lost, a development which made the administration of former governor Adegboyega Oyetola declare a curfew in both Irepodun Local Government (Ilobu) and Orolu Local Government (Ifon-Orolu)