By Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti

The Ekiti State Government, on Monday, ordered the reconstitution of a new committee to resolve the lingering land crisis between Ido and Osi Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state, to prevent the bedlam from festering into large-scale violence.

The government said the action became expedient following the wholesale rejection of the recommendations contained in the report of the Ekiti State Boundary Technical Committee by Osi Ekiti, which suggested that the land under contention should be shared between the two towns or acquired by the government for agricultural purposes.

According to a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Victor Ogunje, Mrs Afuye said this in Ado Ekiti while mediating in a land dispute between the Olotu family of Osi Ekiti and the Ejemu dynasty of Ido Ekiti.

To nip the matter in the bud permanently, Mrs Afuye said the new committee, to be constituted by the Ido/Osi Local Government, which has jurisdictional powers, will include experts from the office of the Surveyor General, representatives of the two communities, traditional rulers, and security agencies.

Mrs Afuye appealed to the communities to cooperate with the new committee and promote peace, in line with Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s policy thrust of peacebuilding among all citizens and towns across the state.

Mrs Afuye stated: “Since Osi Ekiti said they are not going to accept the recommendations of the technical committee’s report earlier done, we are going to set up another committee to interact with the two families in the matter.

“In order to resolve this matter once and for all, we will contact the local government to constitute a committee from the Council, and experts from the office of the Surveyor General will join to ensure we get a recommendation that will be acceptable to all sides.

“We are not in favour of anyone in this matter. Our action exemplifies commitment to unity and peacebuilding between these two towns. We need a proper report on this matter, and that is what we are trying to achieve.”

In his briefing, the Ekiti State Surveyor General, Surv. Adebayo Faleto, proposed that the crisis could be nipped in the bud through a spirit of give and take, saying if the families can’t settle, the land will be acquired by the government for agricultural purposes.

Faleto stated that the two cadastral mappings done by the governments of Dr Kayode Fayemi and the current Biodun Oyebanji-led administration tallied, which further accentuated the claim that the technical committee was unbiased in the matter.

“We have always been neutral in our judgement. The land under contention can be divided between the two families. But if they fail to reach an agreement, the government can acquire the land for plantation agriculture to resolve the matter eternally,” he said.

Speaking for the Ejemu family of Ido Ekiti, Engr. Olusesan Falae was vehement in his claim that the land belonged to the family, stating that the local government had visited the site and recommended that the land was genuinely owned by them.

In his defence, Falae averred that the family had submitted the recommendation of the technical committee of 17th May 1998, which favoured Ido Ekiti in the matter, besides the one presented by Ido/Osi Local Government in 1999, which also tilted towards the family in terms of ownership.

“In 1998 and 2018, the recommendations of the Ekiti State technical committee and the Local Government were that the land belonged to Ido Ekiti. Several farmers on the land, including those from Osi Ekiti, acknowledged that the land under contention belongs to us; there is no confusion about this,” he maintained.

Disputing Ido’s claim, the spokesperson for the Olotu family of Osi Ekiti, Mr. Kayode Eniola, and Chief Babatunde Odetola stated that the land had been occupied by Ido Ekiti illegally for years, fuelling agitations that such arbitrary possession should be addressed to avert bloodshed.

They claimed that the recommendation by Ido/Osi Local Government in its report of 1999 was biased on the premise that no Osi Ekiti person was represented in the Land Dispute Committee.

“How could they have set up a committee without consulting us? We believe this was biased and wrong, so we cannot accept the recommendations contained therein,” they stated.