Sequel to cases of fierce battles being fought in some towns over land dispute, the Ekiti State Government has warned land owners against arbitrary selling of farmlands.
The government said such action was triggering violence in many communities across the state.
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, spoke in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday, while mediating in a land dispute between Eda Oniyo in Ilejemeje Local Government and Isan Ekiti in Oye Council Area.
The intervention was a follow up to a petition written by land owners from Ilale Quarters in Isan Ekiti, accusing the people of Ilije and Eda Odo in Eda Oniyo Ekiti of encroaching into the lands at Igbo-Ero farmstead, located at the border area between the two towns.
Addressing the feuding communities, Afuye, according to a statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Victor Ogunje, directed the Ekiti State Boundary Technical Committee to visit the disputed land and do proper demarcation that will help in brokering truce in the matter.
Specifically, Afuye, warned that the contending forces shouldn’t allow self interest to stoke the fire of acrimony between the two towns that had coexisted peacefully for ages.
She regretted that indiscriminate selling of lands by farmers and land owners from the two towns was the main cause of the problem.
“It is sad that those who couldn’t see into the future were the root cause of this problem. I could see evidence here that the owners of lands in that area were indulging in selling of lands, which caused this encroachment.
“I want to advise that all this must stop. If your ancestors had behaved in this manner, you shouldn’t have been able to inherit the lands you are now quarrelling over today. You have to desist from this habit, it is happening in virtually all our towns.
“But I want to commend the two traditional rulers for rising to the occasion and prevented violence. Our Boundary Technical Committee will visit the area to do proper demarcation, so that you can know your actual boundary,” she said.
Speaking for Ilale Quarters, the Onisan of Isan Ekiti, Oba Ayodele Adejuwon and a leader from the community, Mr. Dauda Gbengbeleku, alleged that arbitrary selling of lands by their rivals from Eda Oniyo was the cause of the acrimony in the area.
Oba Adejuwon lamented that some of the lands belonging to his people, had been sold off by Eda Oniyo farmers operating in the contentious area, thereby forcing them to move upland to the portion owned by his kingdom due to paucity of land.
The monarch applauded the state government for its readiness to intervene and rein in those trying to cause violence through aggressive land grabbing tendency that could stoke the fire of acrimony between the two towns.
In their defence for Ilije and Eda Odo people, the Eleda of Eda Oniyo, Oba Julius Awolola and former Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Dr. David Ajayi, posited that evidence were suffice to substantiate that Isan Ekiti farmers were paying royalty to Eda Oniyo from time immemorial on the usage of the land.
Oba Awolola added that the government’s preparedness to demarcate the disputed lands and border area between the towns will help in dousing the brewing tension and restore peace.
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