Oyo State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee on boundary dispute on Monday , visited Lagelu Local Government of the state over land/ boundary dispute between Ogburo and Iwo border communities of Oyo and Osun states
The committee, led by the Oyo state deputy speaker, Hon. Muhammed Abiodun Fadeyi were in the council area to seek amicable solutions to the land disputes between
Ogburo community falls within the territory of Lagelu LG., while Iwo falls within Osun state
A statement made available to Oodua News by the Information Officer of the Council, Oyeleye Toyese indicated that
other members of the committee that accompanied the deputy speaker
include; Hon. Mobaje Rasaq, Hon. Bamidele Adeola, Hon. Sola Owolabi and Hon. Olajide Akintunde Emmanuel who were received at the council Secretariat, iyana- offa by the Executive chairman of Lagelu LG, Hon. Mudashiru kamorudeen Morenikeji, his vice, Hon. Raji sadiq, Hon. Idogbe Aduragbemi Emmanuel and career officers led by Mr Adeniran Babatunde who was the Director of Administration and General Services of the council.
The committee held a very crucial meeting with the council team having in attendance traditional rulers, especially trio of ologburo of ogburo oba olujide, ola of Lagun oba Najeemdeen olalekan Bello and onilalupon of Lalupo oba Munirudeen Arigbabuwo. All HLGAs and heads of departments in the council and her LCDAs were ably represented and other political functionaries were not left behind.
In his words, hon. Mudashiru kamorudeen Morenikeji expressed his happiness in regards to the visitation of the house committee to Lagelu Local government on the very important issue of boundary dispute. Thus, he called on barrister Kehinde Ayansola, the legal practitioner handling the case to brief the gathering on the state of things.
Barrister Ayansola in a lengthy discussion brilliantly gave vivid explanation of issues concerning boundary in the area under consideration alluding to the fact that many of the people at the other side lack knowledge about “the right of occupancy and ownership right”, thus, gave further details about actions that had been taken in the past with years of judgements given; how Oyo state had won many cases on the troubled area, also narrating various problems and attacks experienced by the people of the area and loss of lives involved. Concluding, barrister Ayansola solicited for the full support of the Oyo House of Assembly and the State Governor, Oluseyi Makinde, in order to get the total ownership /authority of the entire ogburo community and to claim the real boundary as it was created from the inception of Oyo state.
The deputy speaker and the leader of the ad-hoc committee on boundary dispute, Hon. Abiodun Fadeyi assured the council that, with all reports gathered here, they were ready to work acidiously with the Executive governor of Oyo state in order to take a quick and proactive action on the matter. He also called on the executive chairman of Lagelu LG to as a matter of urgency put up things that would be of great benefit for the people of that area so that they would have Sense of belonging and feel the impact of Oyo state.
Hon. Mobaje Rasaq promised the LG that by God’s grace, everything would be in place before the termination of the tenure of this present house of assembly. He further requested to know the relationship between offa igbo in Lagelu LG and other existing offa communities in Yoruba land. He also informed the gathering of great effort exerted before boundary dispute in respect offa igbo was finally settled.
Hon. Bamidele Adeola advised that the LG should work hand in hand with traditional council to take proactive action in order to stop this long time dispute, noting that the LG needs to make sure people begin to work in the area and security cover also should be provided for them.
Addressing the meeting, Hon. Olajide Akintunde Emmanuel ( AKT) expressed saddness over series and brutal attacks in the ogburo area, mentioning that many lives had been lost over the dispute. He spoke at length and concluded that the LG might not be able to do it all alone because ownership of land had much to do with the state government. He also informed the meeting that security apparatus was being prepared both in traditional way and other wise, that they were working on getting the governor’s approval for now.
Oba Najeemdeen olalekan Bello, the Ag. Chairman of the Traditional council in the LG, spoke on behalf of other traditional council members present, expressed displeasure on the role played by the state government in the past by not paying much attention to the plight of the people of the troubled area. He informed the ad-hoc committee that the present oba of ogburo could not stay or reside in his domain for the fear of been attacked any time because the former king was killed when he was thrown down from a storey building used as his palace then by some evil elements from the opposing community. He urged the house members to come to the aid of Lagelu LG concerning this issue so as to profer a lasting solution to the problem; he also gave credence to what late Bola Ige told them long ago while waiting for the traditional rulers from that axis years back that “trunk A roads or stream/ Rivers” were mostly used as land mark or boundaries.
Speaking on behalf of all security agencies present at the venue of the meeting, officer in charge of DSS, Mrs Anita reported that the dispute had been a long standing issue, and that they, the security personnel there present were interested in the security aspect of the areas. She referred to loss of lives that had been witnessed over time in the disputed axis thus, advising that “political will” should be enforced, and the people’s interest should be brought in as priority in the matter.
After much deliberation, the entourage of the house committee, traditional rulers, and the entire management team of Lagelu LG led by Hon. Mudashiru kamorudeen , the executive chairman of the council then defiled the rain to go for “on the spot assessment” of the disputed area under the guide of heavy security personnels.
