Land dispute: Kwara, Ekiti communities trade blames over attack

The Obbo-Ayegunle community in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State and the Eda Oniyo community in Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State have again blamed each other over last week’s attack.

While the Obbo-Ayegunle people accused Eda Oniyo of attacking them in their domain on Wednesday last week, the Eda Oniyo community said it was the Obbo-Ayegunle people that attacked some farmers in its community that fateful day.

There has been disagreement between the two communities over the ownership of the land where Obbo-Ayegunle people settled.

The Obbo-Ayegunle community, in a statement signed by the President, Obbo Descendants Forum, Ade Ogun, appealed to the Ekiti State Government to prevail on the traditional ruler of Eda-Oniyo, Oba Julius Awolola, and his subjects to stop their continued aggression against them.

Ogun said, “The appeal became necessary because Eda-Oniyo community, located in Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State, has started threatening Obbo farmers again over the land in dispute between the two communities.”

He alleged that eight men from Eda-Oniyo, led by one ‘Ojo Eda,’ invaded Obbo farmlands on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, and threatened to kill the farmers when next they meet them on the land.

“This is completely against our resolution at the recent meeting held at Ado-Ekiti,” the statement added.

Ogun said that what emboldened Eda Oniyo was “a skewed story which gave the impression that Obbo people are tenants on their own ancestral land.”

• Oyetola condemns Osun killings, tasks police, others on security
• Nigeria seeks regional cooperation to strengthen border governance
• Governors spend N512bn on travels, offices

The ODF appealed to the Ekiti State Government “to prevail on Eda-Oniyo people to toe the path of peace in resolving the land dispute, warning that “Obbo people have the right and are ready to defend themselves if the violent attacks from Eda-Oniyo persist and nobody cares to check them.”

But the National President of Eda Oniyo Progressives, Dr Rufus Ajayi, insisted on Tuesday that Obbo-Aiyegunle people wanted to claim Eda Oniyo community’s land where they were settling.

Ajayi, who claimed that Obbo-Aiyegunle people were attacking and complaining, alleged, “They were the ones that attacked our people last Wednesday. They came with about 35 people with cutlasses and guns to invade us, to drive our people away. They even extended beyond where they were, trying to kill our people.

“We reported the Wednesday attack to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Brig Gen Ebenezer Ogundana (retd). Immediately, he called the commissioner of police. He said that they should look for security to go to the place and arrest some of them if possible. But the attackers had fled.

“The land never belonged to Obbo-Aiyegunle. That place belongs to us. Our forefathers allowed them there, but now, they want the land to be theirs. They should leave our land.”

Ajayi appealed to the Ekiti State Government “to help us to drag these people away from the land of the state. They are on Ekiti land.

“They should drag them away and use the place as a farm settlement so that our youths will be engaged and there will be food security.”

The Special Adviser to Ekiti State Governor on Security Matters, Ogundana, could not be reached as of press time.