Community accuses monarch of forcefully taking- over ancestral land

Members of Ijehu community in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara state yesterday insisted that the Offa monarch, Oba Muhammadu Gbadamosi has encroached on their land.

The community members dismissed recent reports by Oba Gbadamosi of not illegally encroaching on parcels of land belonging to Ijehu community, describing the monarch’s denial as untrue and incorrect.

The monarch and Ijehu community have in the last three years been quarrelling over acres of land in the community.

This led to a protest last year by scores of members of the Ijehu community, against the Olofa in front of the Kwara state House of Assembly.

The protesters had accused Oba Gbadamosi of forcefully taking over their farmlands bequeathed to them by their forebears.

But, the monarch denied the allegation, arguing that he inherited the entire land in the community from his late grandfather.

Adressing reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, the Baale of Ijehu, Moshood Adeogu said the Olofa “has come up with another bag of tricks as regards the disputed hectares of land between him and the Ijehu community of Offa Local Government Area of Kwara state.

“The land in question is our own inheritance. Ijehu is where our forefathers founded. It was in 2016 that the Olofa jumped into that land and decided to lay claim to it, arguing that the land belongs to his father.

“We challenged him at the court. For peace to reign, the Kwara state High Court sitting in Offa ordered that the land be demarcated between the two parties. But, the monarch has been flouting the court order and this has led to altercation between our people and his agents.

“We reported to the police and a peace accord was brokered between Ijehu land owners and the Olofa’s aides pending the final determination of the matter in the court.

“But, during the Ileya festival last month, Oba Gbadamosi came up with another trick as he assembled some radio stations in Offa to fabricate lies, saying that about 100 plots of land were given to him as a gift by the Ijehu community and that he bought 200 plots with his money.

“This is not correct as he has been claiming that the land belongs to him that is why we challenged him at the court in the first instance. Coming up with another story now is violating the undertaking signed by both parties to maintain peace with the supervision of the state commissioner,” Adeogu averred.