Thirty-two villages in Iwo, an ancient city in Iwo Council of Osun State, are currently under siege, as residents, including the village heads, have been forced out of their territories by armed men who are not licensed actors to the dispute.

The affected communities ? Paku, Ogunajo, Oloola, Ejemo, Eleye, Alaya, Oloya, Ejisun, Olamooyin, Arikese, Eleweran, Akinnrin, Alagbede, Otigbele, Eleru, Akiniko, Ileoye, Aba-Osun, Osolo, Adegun, Onlapa, Oniyangi, and others, have practically become desolate, as residents who fled for dear lives are currently taking refuge in the remaining four communities and other parts of the state.

The Guardian learnt that since these onslaughts two years ago, at least, two people have been killed; property and crops worth millions of naira destroyed, just as the assailants have also taken over farmlands.

Though some of the communities are not accessible owing to the militarised violence in the hands of these assailants, testimonies from some of the fleeing victims showed that it is not yet Uhuru.

It was learnt that the turbulence, which bothers on boundary crisis between Offa-Igbo in Lagelu Local Council of Oyo State, a community, which shares boundary with Osun State and Iwo, was allegedly instigated by the Olofa of Offa-Igbo, Oba Adeboye Salako, in a desperate move to extend his territory.

However, despite efforts by these communities to seek end to the conflagration in the last two years, the Osun State government has not done much to stop the war.

The Guardian gathered there are fears that if the state government did not intervene immediately, there might be a repeat of the crisis that engulfed Ilobu and Ifon communities in the state.

Investigations show that the crisis first started around 1964, it was amicably resolved at the period. However, the renewed hostility started in 2023 when the Olofa of Offa-Igbo, Oba Salako was elevated to the position of Oba from a baale. It was alleged that the invasion of the communities was aimed at extending his territory, hence, the forceful displacement of the villagers.

The Coordinator of Baales in Iwoland, who is also the Baale of Papa, Chief Ademola Adegoke, who confirmed that the fresh crisis started in 2023, accused the son of the Offa-Igbo monarch, Prince Akeem Salako, as the mastermind of the attacks on the villages in Iwoland.

?Along the Ibadan road, we have 36 villages, when the monarch and his son were about to start this act of terrorism, they issued letters of invitation to some of the village heads to come to the Oyo State Police Headquarters, Iyaganku, Ibadan, but since we are not under Lagelu local council, which is in Oyo State, we then wrote a petition to Zone 11 in Osogbo, stating the content of the invitation letters and we made it known in our petition that we were not willing to fight with anybody.

?After this, what we saw was another letter from their lawyer, Kenny Ayanwale that the Baales of Paku and Ogunajo should come to his office for a meeting; we didn?t also honour that invitation. This was followed by the invasion of the communities by the armed thugs. They actually turned this to looting, stealing motorcycles bought for our hired labourers ? Congolese and Togolese, they stole our livestock, harvested our yams, stole palm oil processing machines, and household belongings, among others. As they were doing this, they were issuing deadlines to the villagers to move out their things.

?They eventually succeeded in taking over 32 villages and drove the residents away. In one of these affected villages ? Oloola, we have A.U.D Primary School, Oloola, established in 1955 and controlled by Osun State government; we also have Polling Unit there, where elections were held under Osun, not Oyo State,? he said.

While lamenting that during the onslaughts, many people were injured and two of their people, a native and one of the foreign labourers, died in the struggle, Adegoke stressed that when they discovered that the onslaughts were unbearable, five of them, approached the High Court, Iwo, that same year, where they received court injunction, warning the invaders from trespassing, but to maintain status quo, pending the time when the Boundary Commission officials give their verdict.

According to the order of interim injunction, Suit No: H/W/16/2023, issued by the High Court and dated November 2, 2023, the court restrained the invaders from further entering or trespassing on the ?Iwo land, Oke-Oba, Osun State bounded on the 1st side by remaining Iwo land, 2nd side by Oba River, 3rd side by Papa town, and 4th side by Offa-Igbo village land measuring 3000 hectares or in any way disturbed the applicants villages, Iwo land area, Oke-Oba, Osun State, peaceful and quiet possession and enjoyment of the said land pending the hearing and determination of interlocutory injunction filed along in this suit.?

Adegoke said the officials of the boundary commission actually came, and visited Paku, which served as the boundary ?between us and saw that the Osun State control, positioned at the front of the place, which serves as sign of the boundary had been vandalised by the invaders. The official asked if that place is Osun or Oyo State, the Surveyor-General of Osun State was there that day and proved to them that it is Osun State.?

The Baale of Paku, Chief Akinrombi Isiaka, head of one of the affected communities, who has also fled his palace since the Invaders took over, said he has been squatting outside his territory for over two years.

?All my subjects and the villagers have fled to Iwo. At the initial stage, we ran to our father ? the Oluwo of Iwoland, His Royal Majesty, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, he calmed us to exercise patience. He told us that since we have evidence that we owned the lands, we should approach the court, to avoid putting laws into our hands and that was why we took the step.

?Despite the court order and the visitation of the boundary commission officials from Abuja, one week after ceasefire, these assailants returned. The day we went to harvest palm fruits, one of our boys that went with us was killed. We were advised not to fight to avoid having more casualties at hand. It is that instruction that we have been following and this has given them the leeway to do worse things, including daylight robbery.

?We succeeded in apprehending nine of them, we handed them over to the police, they were charged to court accordingly and were remanded in prison for three months. But the sad reality is that after some form of lobby from the top, the suspects were set free. In the discharge sheet, the DPP advised that we should meet the police to search for the main mastermind ? Akeem for trial, but despite all efforts, everything proved abortive. On the return of these suspects, the attack was doubled. Since then, we have not been able to access our villages, anymore.?

In the letter sighted by The Guardian, issued by the Ministry of Justice, Public Prosecutions Department, Osogbo, dated December 30, 2024, signed by Oyedele Akintayo and addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, the letter said the suspects ?should not be charged for any offence because they are just victims of circumstances who were arrested by the police in their various farms, while some of them were arrested on their way ridding their motorcycles to get home quickly.

?It is further advised that the police authority should intensify efforts to arrest Akeem and his armed men and investigate the sundry allegations of murder, armed robbery, malicious damage, forcible entry against him and his armed men.?

This stance was faulted by the Baales who insisted that the suspects, at the point of arrest were caught with guns, deadly weapons and items stolen from the villages, which they confessed to when they were questioned by the police.

The DPP was accused of dancing to the tune of some alleged ?sponsors,? which led to freeing the suspects and absorbing them of any allegations leveled against them.

Baale Isiaka said they met the State Attorney-General, Oluwole Bada, upon hearing the directive of the DPP, but he denied knowledge of the development. ?Still the office of the DPP insisted they acted on the report of the police.?

He added that the Attorney-General advised them to meet the police to assist them to arrest the main culprit with the promise to personally prosecute him.

He regretted that all their farm produce have been harvested by the bandits, noting that a recent visit to their farms with the aid of armed guards, showed that the bandits have rented the farmlands to people.

On his part, the Chairman, Committee of Oke-Oba, Alhaji Ogunremi Olugbenga, one of the communities also affected, said: ?We were at the farm when our village was invaded. It was when the nine suspects were freed that they came to our side, telling us they have been empowered by the court to take possession of the lands, as the land belongs to Offa-Igbo. They told me that if I need land, I should come to Olofa and declare that I am now an indigene of Offa-Igbo, I declined and since then, they have taken over all our land.

?They have an agent in the community who is currently harvesting my father?s palm fruits and those of other villagers. They have also sold out all the lands; we are just watching them from afar. We approached the police, but they appear helpless as they cannot overpower them. I am also a teacher at the community?s primary school, other teachers have also fled as the hoodlums have taken over the entire communities and education for the pupils considered as the leaders of tomorrow has ceased.

?If I want to give the rough estimates of what were destroyed ? houses, properties, crops, household good and others across these villages, it will run into billions.?

He lamented that when the issue became unbearable and they couldn?t match the power of these Offa-Igbo terror groups, ?we ran to the Iwo Board of Trustees (IBOT), which promised to help us get the Boundary Commission Report.

?Our appeal is that the report should be released so that we can reclaim our land. We are also appealing to the court handling our case to hasten it, to give us judgment on the land. Third, we want the government to give us security men, not the police, because they have told us they?ll not come, if it?s the vigilante, or the Army to stay with us. This will give us peace of mind to farm. Once that is done; we?ll return To our lands and continue with our farming, to put foods on our tables.?

The Baale of Ogunajo, Chief Musiliu Kehinde, who also narrated his experience, said the bandits invaded his community ?like someone who came for war. They were armed with guns of different sizes, led by Akeem. His father had once attacked me claiming the land belongs to him. I told him that from history, Offa-Igbo got their land through Ogunajo village. Ownership of Ogunajo community shouldn?t be an issue of debate because we have a primary school, and polling unit. They have removed the roof of the school, we pay our taxes to the coffers of Osun State, we have never paid to Lagelu Council or Oyo State any tax, so how does the land belong to them?

?We are appealing to the state and Federal Government to come to our aid. All our farm assets and cash crops have been confiscated. We need good security for the protection of life and property. Some of those who fled the villages are dying of hunger since their sources of livelihood have been hijacked.?

A former councilor, who represented Oke-Oba in 2008, Alhaji Ayodele Ashafa, an indigene of Molamoyin, said as at the time he was in office, there wasn?t any issue of land grabbing in the area. ?The grading of the land was done by me when I was in office, now they are laying claim to the road and land.?

When asked steps he has taken at ensuring the council intervenes in the crisis, he said the lingering leadership crisis in the councils jeopardised any potential intervention as there are two political parties claiming leadership in the council, noting that he couldn?t make any report to douse the tension.

He noted that a police officer was one of the nine suspects arrested and charged to court but was covered up. ?Some of the suspects knew me and since they were released, they have been on my trail, victimising me and those close to me.

?Since this crisis started, life has become unbearable for our people; they are now extorting, collecting money from them to farm or have access to their farms.

?We are appealing to government and other concerned Nigerians to help us regain our land and ensure that Akeem is arrested. When arrested, he shouldn?t be allowed to escape the wrath of the law because he has pushed many people into untold hardship.?

The Baale of Paku, Isiaka, appealed to Governor Ademola Adeleke to urgently wade into the crisis, so ?that it will not turn to the lingering crisis like Ilobu and Ifon, we are tired. We won?t allow them to debar our people from farming this year like the previous years; the governor should come to our aid now.?

When The Guardian contacted the alleged mastermind of the attacks, Akeem on phone number ? 09068101098, he declined to talk. ?So, how did you get my number? I?ll send the number of the person you?ll talk to.?

Afterwards, he sent the phone number of one Akinpelu Monsur, who introduced himself as his younger brother, he also told The Guardian he was not in the position to talk, but forwarded the phone number of their lawyer, Kenny Ayanwale.

Just few minutes after this, Ayanwale called. He said he was directed by the monarch and chairman of Lagelu local council to talk to The Guardian, denying that there was any issue of trespass or invasion of the communities, but mere ?boundary dispute.?

?The case is in seven different courts and before boundary commission. The two states ? Oyo and Osun are currently looking into this issue, including the boundary commission. How come the allegation of trespass? More importantly, by the virtue of boundary resolution during the creation of Osun State, Odo-Oba is the boundary of Ibadan and Oyo State, which is the natural boundary. There was a judgment on that land in 1964. There was another judgment in 1923, which states that Oluwo of Iwo doesn?t have any land, it is in the archive, if you need it.

?The recommendation in 1933 said the problem Iwo has is that they don?t know the differences between occupational and ownership right. Iwo has been farming on Ibadan lands for ages, but that doesn?t transfer ownership right to them, that is the report of the white paper on August 1933.

?The Baales are the ones selling lands belonging to Ibadan, that is why they were taken to the court. They have a criminal case currently in Ibadan. About a month and half ago, they burnt a caterpillar belonging to the local council, used in grading roads in the villages.?

When asked about the killings and looting in the villages, he described the allegations as ?pure lies,? saying there was no invasion, noting that the allegations were cooked.

All efforts to speak with the State Attorney-General, Oluwole Bada on the position of the state and the allegations against the DPP was futile as he didn?t pick calls made across to his phone and also failed to reply messages sent to his mobile phone.

The first Asiwaju Muslumi of Iwo Land and veteran journalist, Alhaji Liad Tella, who faulted Ayanwale?s claim that Odo-Oba is the boundary between Ibadan and Osun State, said Iwo has been in existence before Ibadan was created.

Said he: ?The founders of Ibadan were from Iwo. Ibadan was created in the 17th century, and Iwo has been in existence since 14th century. This is not the first time there?ll be boundary dispute between Iwo and Ibadan. Bolanle Commission of Enquiry in 1965 and 1986 clearly stated this. It is in the archive at the University of Ibadan. We had no Oba on the throne then, so we didn?t have good representation.

?Oluwo has been Oluwo, but Olubadan was Baale until the time of Jemibewon. In fact, during the period of enquiry, late Pa Adeniji said Olodo was actually the boundary of Ibadan and Iwo. And he went and dug up a huge pot filled with charcoal, which was traditional mark of boundary.?

While going down the memory lane, Tella said the warriors that founded Ibadan, some of them were taken from Iwo, noting that Ibadan never conquered Iwo. ?In all Yoruba land, Iwo is the only city that was never conquered whether during the inter-tribal war or during the war of independence by other Yoruba groups. The treaty obsession of the Yoruba land to the British crown was signed by the Alaafin, Oluwo was one of the signatories, Olubadan was not. And when the colonial people came, the late Alaafin released some documents, among the Obas Ibadan was never listed in the list from the colonial masters.

?Why are they claiming that Odo-Oba is the natural boundary? If Odo-Oba is natural boundary, it means that Iwo should claim Ife-Odo up to Ogbomosho. During the creation of Osun State the demarcation is there and the national boundary commission report is very clear that all those places belong to Iwo.

?Oluwo is a paramount ruler before Olubadan became a paramount ruler. Olubandan was not the biggest crowned Oba. Ibadan was a war camp of different Yoruba nationalities. Iwo is an Islamic city; the first central mosque in Iwo was built in 1514. Was Ibadan in existence then?

?It?s a tragedy that a Baale is claiming authority over a recognised Oba. The national boundary commission clearly demarcated Osun State and the old Iwo local council has a maternity in that area, a district primary school in that area and all the polling units belong to Osun in Iwo.

?Many people have been killed, many have been sent way from their farmlands, in the name of trying to prospect for gold. The national boundary commission and Oyo State government should step into the matter before it becomes another crisis like Ilobu and Ifon.?

Specifically, Tella pleaded with the Federal Government to step in through the boundary commission before it turns to something else. ?What is going on is banditry, land grabbing, lands are being sold, who?s taking the revenue from them? People cannot farm. The governments of Osun and Oyo states are deliberately setting Iwo on fire.

?The police from Ibadan are coming to Iwo to arrest people who know nothing. Without correspondents, no communication to the police in Iwo, where is it done? Students who are in the Federal College of Education are also victims! What?s the matter? Is Ibadan land not big enough??

The Chairman, Iwo Board of Trustees (IBOT), Prof Lai Olurode, who noted that boundary issues are national issues, expressed regrets that the issue shouldn?t have led to crisis of killing, kidnapping, intimidation and acts of terrorism between communities in the state.

He said: ?This Is because states were not created yesterday, and local councils were not created yesterday. They have been in existence for long. Once a local council is created the jurisdiction, the coordinate of the local council will be stated.

?In the case of the conflict between the communities in Iwo and the communities in Ibadan, in Oyo State, what we did was to go the civil way. We are not war mongers, we are civil people. So, what we did was to submit our case to the national boundary commission and they are looking into it and I believe their report will be ready soon.

?They visited and we took them to communities, to villages in Iwo, under Iwo jurisdiction which covers Ayedire, Iwo and other communities. They took their surveyors there and all the necessary measurement, they did everything they should do, they established their pillars and they already have their answers. Even in international boundary disputes you have to submit yourself to authorities that have the mandates to look into such things. It is not by resulting to killing.

?They killed several people in Iwo, but the Oluwo being a civil Oba said he doesn?t want any bloodshed. Just take your case to appropriate authorities, it?s not that we cannot fight but that?s the way to go. So, at the end of the day when the authorities in charge intervene, they will sort things out. That?s the way of civilized people. It?s unbelievable that PDP is under the control of Osun state and also under the control of Oyo state. So, I can?t see why two brother states who were under the western region in the past cannot resolve the issue. Iwo could have well been in Oyo but it happens to be in Osun. Why should they be at war?

He regretted that people in the affected communities have been sent away from their villages in Oke- Oba under Iwo, asking that ?how can somebody wake up and want to claim the land of Oke Oba, which is the land of Iwo Olodo-Oba?

?Odo-Oba is a landmark and it can?t be in Oyo. The boundary cannot be in Odo-Oba. The national boundary commission came in 2023, we took them round they saw boreholes, they saw water tanks, they saw schools that were established by the Osun State government under the governorship of Bisi Akande and Oyinlola. They saw all these and they were convinced that these communities are under Iwo.

?Unfortunately, Ibadan people resulted to hooliganism, to killing, because it has worked for them before that was how they got Lagun. These are communities under Iwo. Most compounds in Lagun have their roots in Iwo, it?s clear? As I told you, we will remain civil and we believe that the national boundary commission will do the needful,? he said.

An official of the National Boundary Commission, Mr. Oluwafemi Oshinaike, who attributed the delay in the commission?s interventions to dearth of fund, regretted the sudden tragic development in the communities. He told The Guardian that if the agreements the commission signed with the communities are followed, the clashes, which have displaced over 400 farmers would never have happened.

?It is not as easy as people think we can solve the issue without knowing the history and proper legal documents. We have had several meetings and we signed an agreement that the status quo be maintained. Where you are now, stay there, if this is respected, all these clashes will not be happening. We are not saying where you are now is your own or not your own until it is fully determined.?

Oshinaike said the commission is planning a reconciliatory visit to the affected communities, not to the state capitals anymore, to put a permanent end to the crisis. ?I am engaging politicians right now. I have spoken with the House of Representatives member, representing Ayedire/Iwo/Ola-Oluwa Federal Constituency, Osun State, Lukman Mudashiru. I am engaging House of Representatives members, House of Assembly members from the two states. I am engaging officials of the local councils, the Commissioners of Police, the youth leaders, women leaders, the hunters and the farmers.

?We are not going to the state capitals anymore. The communities have lost confidence in the state officials. The last time I went there I saw the two Deputy Governors. Our own is to demarcate, our responsibility is not to keep peace. We have the state boundary committee, we have local council boundary committee, what are they doing? We have been going to the state capitals. Let the states do their work.?

When The Guardian contacted the Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor, Sulaiman Olanrewaju, to speak on state?s efforts to douse the tension, he directed that the Deputy Governor, Bayo Lawal, be contacted but the receiver who introduced himself as his Personal Assistant noted that the necessary questions should be forwarded to his Whatsapp, but there has been no response as at the time of filing this report.

On his part, the Chief Press Secretary to Osun State Governor, Mallam Rasheed Olawale, said a joint statement was released few days earlier by the two Governors on the issue.

According to the statement, the two governors met over the dispute and mandated immediate actions, which include a directive to the Deputy Governors of both states to meet and conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the areas involved in the dispute.

The governors, however, called for restraint and an end to the reported incursions into each other?s territories by disgruntled groups, emphasising the importance of due process and adherence to the rule of law in resolving conflicts.

In addition, Olawale told The Guardian that the issue is an inter-state boundary matter, which is not in the purview of any state government to resolve. He said the commission ought to have released their report, but due to budgetary problem, hence the delay.

?The report will map out who is wrong and the national boundary commission has the statutory responsibility to do that. It is a federal assignment, not state and irrespective of that the two governors met and said since their deputies are statutorily in charge of boundary matters, they should look into it, meet the people involved to allow peace to reign, pending the outcome of the report.? (The Guardian)

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