displaced

For generations, farmers in several villages inside Oke-Oba—a vast settlement claimed by Osun and Oyo states—have cultivated their land, nurtured crops, and lived in harmony with nature. However, a bitter dispute over the ownership of this fertile 3,000-hectare expanse of land has shattered the serenity of their lives, leaving their very existence hanging in the balance. This struggle for territorial control has driven hundreds of farmers from their homes and claimed lives, reports Ismaeel Uthman

For 15 years, Osun and Oyo states coexisted peacefully, with Osun originally forming the southeastern part of Oyo.

However, on August 27, 1991, the regime of former military head of state, General Ibrahim Babangida, altered this unity by creating nine new states, thus separating Osun from Oyo.

Since that pivotal moment, the two states have continued to refer to each other as siblings, but a growing boundary dispute now casts a shadow over the sincerity of this brotherhood.

Crux of boundary conflict

This territorial dispute has wreaked havoc on the lives of hundreds of farmers, forcing them to flee their villages in the face of relentless violent attacks. According to findings by Saturday PUNCH, at least two lives have been lost on the contested land—one of them a student—transforming what was once a productive agricultural area into a zone of fear and uncertainty.

The crux of the conflict lies in the boundary communities between between Iwo/Ayedire Local Government Areas in Osun, and Lagelu LGA in Oyo State.

The affected communities—Ogun-Ajo, Paku, Arikese, Ejisun, Oloyaa, Monlamu, Eleeru, Onilapa, Petugble, Maako, Eleye, and Ogundiran—are home to approximately 400 residents. Spanning 3,000 hectares, this disputed land stretches from the Oyi River in Oyo to the Oba River in Osun.

Residents of Iwo refer to the villages as Oke-Oba, while those in Offa-Igbo, Oyo State, call them Lagelu villages.

At the centre of this conflict is the Olofa of Offa-Igbo, Oba Adeboye Sinade, who steadfastly maintains that the villages belong to his territory.

Genesis of tension

It was gathered that tension escalated dramatically on Tuesday, 7 May 2024, when a violent clash erupted between residents of Paku village and the people of Offa-Igbo, resulting in the death of Toheeb Adewale, a student of Al-Ummah College of Education in Iwo.

During the crisis, a guard on a farm owned by Oba Sinade’s son, Akeem Adeboye, was also killed, while another guard, identified as Soliu, sustained gunshot injuries.

Following the attack, hoodlums took control of access routes to the villages, launching continuous assaults on farmers as they attempted to reach their fields. The head of Ogunajo village, Musiliu Kehinde, recounted to Saturday PUNCH how he and other farmers were eventually forced to abandon their homes when they could no longer defend themselves against the unrelenting forces.

The traditional ruler, who was installed as Baale (village head) on December 12, 2016, by the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, firmly believes that the disputed land belongs to Osun State.

He revealed that the crisis began in February 2023 when Oba Sinade sent a grader to improve the road leading to the villages—a move that Kehinde and others resisted, as they did not recognise Oyo State’s claim to the land.

He said, “We never had issues in the villages until February 2023, when the Olofa of Offa-Igbo sent a tractor to grade the road. I resisted because the land belongs to Iwo LGA.

“It amounted to trespass for Olofa to send a tractor to grade Osun land. What followed was an invitation from the police in Ibadan and the arrest of two of our people.

“After that, hoodlums from Oyo started attacking us; they first destroyed the public borehole, then removed the roof of DC Primary School, built in the old Oyo State. In early May last year, the thugs went to Paku village to attack our people and one person was killed. They didn’t stop there; they continued terrorising us, maiming and intimidating our people. I left the village in July last year to avoid being killed.”

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, Paku village head, Isiaka Akinronbi, disclosed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had stationed four polling units in villages in Iwo and Ayedire LGAs.

Monarch son’s involvement

According to him, the villages are now deserted due to alleged incessant attacks from some individuals in Offa.

He said, “We never had a crisis in our villages until after the Olofa was promoted from a village head to a monarch last year. We have been voting there for years without any problems.

“Two months after Oba Sinade’s promotion, his son, Akeem, came with some men to tell us that we should vacate the villages, claiming the land belongs to Offa-Igbo in the Lagelu LGA in Oyo State.

“That was surprising, but we ignored the letter. Following that notification, I received an invitation from Iyaganku police station in Ibadan for no reason. Two of my people were arrested that day and taken to Ibadan.

“Since then, hoodlums from Offa have been terrorising us; they go to our farms to harvest produce. Sometimes, they seize goods from our people and take them to Oyo. They later resorted to attacking our property, including public buildings.”

He added, “On May 7, we went to harvest palm kernels only to discover that parts of our land had been pegged after measurement. We destroyed the pegs and continued our work. Not long after, some thugs from Offa-Igbo stormed our farms, shooting at us, and we all fled. There were about eight of us on the farm. Toheeb was shot and he died on the spot.

“We reported the case at the Iwo Divisional Police headquarters. We also reported to the Oluwo, who pleaded with us not to engage the Offa people in violence. Since that time, thugs from Offa have been patrolling our villages, attacking our people, and destroying and stealing our property at will. We eventually left the villages when we couldn’t bear the attacks anymore in May 2023.”

‘Farmers stopped paying tribute’

However, Prince Akeem Adeboye, the son of the Olofa of Offa, dismissed all the allegations made by the villagers, describing them as manipulative. Speaking with Saturday PUNCH at the Olofa’s palace, he said the village leaders were distorting facts. He noted that they had been paying tribute to his father before they conspired to stop.

Adeboye said, “We own the land; it belongs to Lagelu LGA. We have never fought any of them, but we observed that they are recalcitrant. What we demand is that anybody given land by my father should seek his permission before selling any part of it.

“These people are not sincere. They had attempted to kill me and poison my cattle. In February last year, they destroyed the store on my farm at Arikuoko village, which also belongs to Lagelu, and stole the generator.

“They also attacked the people who went to inspect the farm. Four of the assailants were apprehended and handed over to the police. The policemen who went to inspect the farm were also attacked, but four suspects were arrested.

“We wrote a petition to the State CID at Iyaganku in Ibadan after noticing that we would not get justice at the police station here. After some days, policemen from Iyaganku went to the village and arrested seven more people.”

He added, “It was during the police raid that we discovered that they had erected signboards bearing Osun State in their villages. I reported this to the former Lagelu LG chairman, who went there to remove all the signposts. At one time, they abducted my guard, Kayode Fadahunsi, on my farm.

“They later released him after seven days of torture. They also stole all the nets and poles used to fence our farms. It was after these incidents that we reported the village heads of Papa, Ogunajo, Paku, and Tiemi to the police at Iyaganku. But they didn’t honour the police invitation.

“That was why we wrote to all the villagers on our land, asking them to vacate within 22 days. But they didn’t wait for the 22 days before they left the villages. We didn’t attack anybody. We own all the villages; their forefathers paid tribute to my grandfather and my father.”

Adeboye further alleged, “These people came to attack my farm through the Arikuoko route. One of my night guards was shot. The other one, who was sleeping, was captured and taken to Ejemu village, where he was killed. About 106 cartridges, 148 pieces of bread, bean cakes, sachets of water, and pepper soup were recovered from the farm. We retrieved 23 bullets lodged in Soliu’s head. These people are criminals. However, I can confirm that nobody resides in these villages anymore.”

A man who identified himself only as Alao, an indigene of Iwo, affirmed that the villages belonged to Oyo State.

“I am an indigene of Iwo, but I am not ungrateful. The land in dispute belongs to Oyo. Because of my stance, the people from Iwo abducted me; they took me to Aba Oja, tied me to a tree, and shot me several times.s They later used an iron rod to hit me in the eye,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, none of the villagers who spoke with Saturday PUNCH at different locations in Iwo was willing to lead our correspondent to any of the villages due to fear of attack.

Additionally, the commercial motorcycle operators at Papa Junction, a town not far from the villages, refused to transport our correspondent.

“Those Offa thugs are everywhere; they know us. They will attack us immediately if they see us. They have been snatching our motorcycles and beating us. We can only go if you have a security operative with you,” they declared.

Visits to disputed villages

However, Saturday PUNCH visited Arikuoko, Eleye, and Ejemu villages with the help of Prince Adeboye, who instructed some young men to guide our correspondent to the areas.

No one was sighted in any of the villages; their mud houses were dilapidated and overgrown with weeds. The health centre serving the villages lay desolate.

Saturday PUNCH noted that a building in Ejemu village had some registration numbers—(N)OSS/LGB/T0ss/OBR/April 22, Ho3/D4%, (N)OSS/LGB/t022/NIPDS/HOB—boldly inscribed on them. Additionally, a building in Eleye village had the number—(N)OYS/YNF/NIPOSSEPT23, D3/T84—haphazardly written on it.

Agricultural activities on hold

The boundary dispute has crippled agricultural activities in the affected areas, and this, our correspondent learned, is significantly threatening the livelihoods of the people.

To survive, it was discovered that some of the displaced villagers turned to commercial motorcycle operations in Iwo.

The villagers’ inability to farm will undoubtedly contribute to food shortages and economic decline in both Osun and Oyo states. This comes at a time when the United Nations has predicted that 82 million Nigerians, about 64 per cent of the country’s population, may go hungry by 2030 due to threats to agricultural productivity. Already, there has been a persistent hike in food prices.

National Boundary Commission wades in

When contacted, the National Boundary Commission said it was making frantic efforts to resolve the crisis, expressing concern that the two states had not “demonstrated enough commitment to the speedy resolution of the conflict.”

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, a Deputy Director with the NBC, Mr Oluwafemi Oshinaike, said, “We are aware of the crisis and have taken several steps to address it. We conducted a fact-finding mission in Osun and Oyo States along the interstate boundary from December 16–22, 2023, following reports from the Iwo Board of Trustees, Osun State, of incessant attacks from its neighbouring Lagelu LGA of Oyo State. The commission visited the disputed areas to assess the crisis.

“We have completed our fact-finding and have reports ready, but we need to discuss them with the state governments and arrange a technical meeting to initiate further actions to bring lasting solutions to the ongoing crisis.

“Despite concerted efforts by the agency to address the crisis, the states have not demonstrated enough commitment to the speedy resolution of the conflict.

“We had planned to hold an advocacy meeting in February, but it was postponed because the two states confirmed that their deputy governors wouldn’t be available. We then rescheduled for May, but it was again postponed by the two states due to the industrial action organised by the NLC.

“We further proposed another meeting for between August 13 and 15, but Oyo State has already asked for a postponement due to the ongoing protest, even though Osun State was ready.”

Oshinaike lamented that the postponements were slowing down efforts to bring lasting peace to the disputed areas.

He added, “We urge both governments to engage in dialogue, with the NBC acting as a neutral party to facilitate the resolution process.

“We remain committed to resolving this issue, but the cooperation of both states is essential. It should be noted that the commission is leaving no stone unturned and is prepared to reschedule the meeting for another date.”

‘Osun waiting for NBC report’

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Boundary Matters, Bukola Onifade, said the state was working with Oyo State to resolve the matter.

He said, “The NBC came for fact-finding some months ago, and we were with the officials on the assignment. We have reported the matter to the Federal Government as well, and the police are handling the criminal aspect of it, especially the killings and attacks on our people.

“Governor Ademola Adeleke is also talking to his counterpart in Oyo State to handle the matter as a family issue. We have been appealing to our people not to take up arms, which is why they have left those villages. We are peace-loving people. We are waiting for NBC to present its report.”

Oyo ready to resolve crises

The Commissioner for Information, Culture, and Tourism in Oyo State, Dotun Oyelade, said the state was committed to resolving the crisis.

He said, “The NBC has been involved in the issue, and they have held a series of meetings with the two communities. They have also asked for separate reports from the two communities, which they have submitted. We are waiting for the NBC’s report.

“Together with our brothers and sisters in Osun, we are actively involved in dissuading our people from taking the law into their own hands.”