From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The Obawure of Ifetuntun in Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State, Oba Taofeeq Osunmakinde has appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun to intervene in the land dispute between the community and a neighbouring community.
He expressed worry over the incessant unrest between the community and a neighbouring Ijebu speaking community in Ogun State.
Osunmakinde, who spoke with journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital, said his community is directly under Ile-Ife and therefore urged the IGP to investigate and apprehend the perpetrators of unrest stemming from the ongoing land dispute between Ife and Ijebu over the 30 mile land area known as Ifetuntun.
“We have submitted petitions with evidences to the office of the Inspector General of Police, as well as the Osun State and Federal Governments. We want the government at both the state and federal levels to come to our aid. We are law-abiding citizens and we cannot take laws into our own hands. We seek justice and government intervention,” he stated.
Osunmakinde recounted that in 2001, during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, conflict erupted between the settlers of Ifetuntun and the Ijebus which prompted the federal government’s intervention, adding that the office of the Surveyor General of the Federation demarcated the borders, a development which allowed both communities to coexist peacefully until recently.
He recalled that he was crowned a traditional ruler in 2010 by the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade and the former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, presented him with a certificate and staff of office.
The monarch recounted that the community was attacked in 2016 in an attack allegedly led by a forest guard from the Ministry of Natural Resources, alleging that properties worth billions of naira were razed during the attack.
The monarch said several arrests were made while the principal suspects disappeared and the matter was eventually settled out of court through the intervention of the Ooni of Ife and the former Governor of Osun State, Mr Rauf Aregbesola.
The monarch alleged that a group of hoodlums had been harassing residents along the federal road connecting Ife South to Ijebu West, alleging the hoodlums of extortion and other illegal acts.