Two traditional rulers in the Yewa-North Local Government Area of Ogun State have traded words over boundary disputes.
The Aboro of Iboro, Oba Abayomi Salako, his chiefs and residents of the community have accused the Olu of Imasayi, Oba Luqmon Kuoye, of encroaching on lands which they said belong to the Iboro community.
Addressing newsmen on Wednesday, the Aboro of Iboro said Imasayi indigenes are their tenants, claiming that the present settlement occupied by Imasayi was given to them by their ancestors.
Our correspondent gathered that Imasayi residents, had, in 2021 attacked Iboro traditionalists, who were in Imasayi to perform their annual rites on the land they claimed belonged to them.
The Olu of Imasayi was reported to have inspected the Igan Okoto-Ayetoro road being constructed by the Ogun State Government in the area, claiming ownership.
But, the Aboro faulted his Imasayi counterpart, saying the land in question belongs to Iboro community.
The Aboro said “Imasayi does not have a single plot of land on that road, so I’m wondering how could the road be named Imasayi-Ayetoro road.
“There have been series of violence between Iboro and Imasayi and I told their monarch that I will not condone violence; anybody that fights will be reprimanded and that is my own point. There is no reason for it (violence). The government is there to look into it.
“Let the government come into the matter, if we disagree, then we go to court. There is no need for fighting, I don’t believe in that.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of Iboro Central Working Committee, Kolajo Owolabi, expressed surprise that the Olu of Imasayi could be laying claim to the road being constructed, saying, “Surprisingly, Imasayi has not even a single plot of land belonging to them historically.”
Owolabi maintained that the Iboro Public Health Clinic is situated by the then Egbado Divisional Council, directly opposite the road in question.
“The original boundary attesting to the fact that Imasayi people are customary tenants on Iboro land is between Iboro and Ibese at Iniya River along Abeokuta/ Ilaro road, about six kilometres away from the reconstructed Iboro/Ayetoro road,” he said.
He appealed to the state government to wade into this boundary issue quickly and “resolve it with honesty and sincerity, devoid of any political manipulation.”
When contacted, the Olu of Imasayi insisted that the road had been known to be the Imasayi-Ayetoro road from time immemorial.
“From time immemorial, it is crystal clear that that road is Imasayi-Igan Okoto-Ayetoro road.
“They have played a lot of politics, requesting that the name, Imasayi should be removed, but the government said that’s what is in the document in the state archive,” the Olu of Imasayi stated.
