Oba Seeks IG's Assistance over Land Dispute
By Victor Ogunje
As the violent and bloody land dispute between Ayede and Itaji Ekiti lingers, the Attah of Ayede, Oba Abdumumini Orisagbemi, on Saturday called on the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr Ibrahim Idris, to save him from suspected hoodlums threatening to either kill or implicate him in the lingering crisis.
Oba Orisagbemi, who lamented the death of three persons in connection with the bloody dispute, accused the indigenes of Itaji Ekiti of allegedly instigating the police to carry out mass arrest of his subjects while also threatening to frame him up into the murder cases.
One Oladipo Popoola, a native of Ayede Ekiti, was last week shot dead on an encumbered portion of land at Egan, a farmstead belonging to Ayede, which Itaji people wanted to reclaim on the premise that it was ceded to their neighbour (Ayede) by their forebears.
The third day, another farmer was beheaded at Orisunmibare in Itaji, which stoked suspicion that it could be a reprisal over Popoola’s death on the land.
More to come…
