Awori indigenes of Iba community have advised Ojo community to avoid impending war between the two communities over the claim of ownership of land on which Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo campus is situated, stating that their claims of ownership of the land were false.

In a swift reaction, yesterday, the Bale of Sabo Oniba, Taofeek Oseni, who spoke on behalf of indigenes of the kingdom, described a statement by Ojo Kingdom laying claim to the land as a rude shock to them, wondering how they can lay claim to what doesn’t belong to them.

According to him, it was nauseating for Ojo Kingdom to be claiming what doesn’t belong to them. “We, the Iba people, are peace-loving kingdom. We don’t want crisis in both kingdoms, government had acquired the land in question and both kingdoms are benefiting from the school sited on the land. Why the issue of ownership?

“Even if government wants to pay compensation today to the real land owner, they know where to go. They have their intelligence report and also a survey since colonial era up to the independent period.

“If government doesn’t want to be biased with the issue, they know better than both Ojo and Iba kingdoms on the ownership of the land. We are not ready to fight anybody, but if they are ready, we are going to confront them.

“We want to correct the insinuation made by our brothers from Ojo Kingdom that the entire land that houses LASU is on Oniba land under Oniba Kingdom. Even the entire land of Ojo itself, from time immemorial, is on Iba land but was later ceded to them for peace to reign between the two kingdoms.

“After the cases that came up, there was settlement between parties and the current boundary, which everybody knows and we are aware of Iragbogun, which passes through the bridge at Alaba International Market that demarcated Ojo from Sabo Oniba and came through to where we now know as Franklass, went through the gate of LASU, came through to some parts of Iyana Iba.

“We have our facts if the Ojo Kingdom doesn’t have theirs. If you go to where I’m talking about, you will see all these descriptions and that is our current bargain between Iba and Ojo. LASU, as we all know, is land that was acquired and before LASU was sited at where we known today, it was formally Federal Government College, which has now been taken to where we know as Agric in Ojo.

“The transfer of that college was necessary when Lagos State government came with the idea of having that place being used for the Lagos State University. As you can see, what was being moved from the land, which was on the land is Federal Government College.

“It means the Federal Government acquired the land initially and the acquired land is part of the army cantonment acquired from Iba Kingdom, of which part is being used for the Federal Government College. It was later transferred to Ojo Kingdom to be used for the Lagos State University and everybody knows it.” (Vanguard)

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