Osun community seeks govt intervention over alleged illegal village head installation
The leadership of Great Ife Movement, a group of indigenes of Ile-Ife, in Osun State, has called on the state government and security agencies to intervene and stop the Ogunsua of Modakeke, Oba Joseph Toriola, from installing village heads in some communities that belong to Ile-Ife.
Addressing journalists in Ile-Ife on the matter on Friday, the President of the Movement, Femi Oyeyinka, stated that those villages where Ogunsua was planning to install heads belong to the Ife community.
Oyeyinka, who further alleged that the villages where Ogunsua was planning the installation of heads include; Toro, Alapata, Oyere, Onibambu, and Oduranyin, among others, noting them to be villages that belong to families in Ife.
“From time immemorial, we know that Toro, Alapata, Oyere, Onibambu, Oduranyin and other groups of villages within the aforementioned axis rightly belong to Ife families. Besides, these towns and villages are located in Ife North Local Government Area and not Ife East Local Government Area.
“These areas are under the exclusive jurisdiction of His Imperial Majesty, Arole Oduduwa, the Ooni of Ife. We consider this attempt to install these illegal Baale as a criminal act of trespass and a clear affront to His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja Il, the Ooni of Ife who has been doing all within his royal power to promote peace through his well-acclaimed peace agenda.
“Without mincing words, this illegal attempt to install Baales in areas which exclusively and ancestrally belong to Ife families is capable of causing disaffection among the residents in these areas which could result to breach of public peace. In view of the above-mentioned reasons, we now want Ogunsua of Modakeke Ile-Ife, Oba J.O. Toriola to refrain from further action (s) connected with the proposed installation of Baale on Ife-owned Lands.
“Information reaching us this morning is that Modakeke had gone to some parts of Ayingun, Oke-Eso, lle-Ife to offload some lorry loads of sand to erect another gigantic structure there, that Ayingun, Oke-Eso, lle-Ife belongs to them again. We hereby appeal to the state government, law enforcement agencies, political leaders at the helm of the affair, respected monarchs and other concerned stakeholders to quickly rise to this occasion urgently by ordering the Ogunsua of Modakeke, Ile-Ife, Oba J.O. Toriola, and, or any of his agents not to carry out the exercise of installing Bales in all the aforementioned areas and not to do other things contrary to the Rule of Law which could lead to crisis/war in this part of the state,” Oyeyinka said.
Efforts to get the president, Modakeke Progressive Union, Prof. Peter Olawuni, to respond to the allegations failed as calls did not go through to his line.
But a former Public Relations Officer for MPU National Body, Venerable Debo Babalola, who is currently the Chairman, the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ife East Local Government Chapter, called for peace, adding that both Ooni and Ogunsua have been advocating for peaceful coexistence between the two communities.
“Thieves raiding farms from both communities are the problem that must be tackled. Baba Ooni and our monarch, Oba Toriola are for peace and they have been advocating for it”, Babalola said.
