Another Communal Crisis Looms in Kwara over Boundary Dispute

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Another communal feud between Erin-Ile and Offa communities in Kwara State is imminent, as the people of Erin-Ile community under the aegis of Erin-Ile Progressive Union in Oyun Local Government Area of the state have warned the state government against alleged plan to recreate another boundary between the town and Offa.

The community rather stated that the only panacea to the lingering crisis is for the state government to implement the 2018 Supreme Court judgment on the Offa/Erin-Ile dispute.

The two sister communities had for many years clashed over land matter leading to loss of lives and property.

Speaking at a news conference in Ilorin yesterday, the National Legal Adviser, Erin-Ile Progressive Union, Mr. Amos Adewoye, said: “The recent constitution of kangaroo committee of mediators for peace between Erin-Ile and Offa towns over land dispute is an attempt to rewrite the Supreme Court judgment and impose its own whims and caprices to establish an illegal and unconstitutional boundary between the two communities.”

The community claimed that the Supreme Court in December 2018 affirmed that the Federal Polytechnic and Offa Descendants Union’s national secretariat fall within Erin-Ile land.

Adewoye, however, advised the state government to desist from its current attempt at recreating another boundary between Offa and Erin-Ile to avert anarchy.

Adewoye, represented by Muyideen Bello, added that the state government, by its current action, is embarking on the path of anarchy.

He said: “The Kwara State Government’s current plan to shift the boundary from the common boundary along that axis is an illogical and unconstitutional attempt to alter the boundary of the two local government areas who were parties to the appeal finally determined by the Supreme Court on December 14, 2018.

“The state government needs no reminder that it is not constitutionally invested with such power, and that its current effort is one in futility; a journey to nowhere but anarchy.

“An unjust and illegal appropriation of a person’s heritage for another is a prelude to anarchy, and the time to prevent it is now.”

Adewoye, therefore, called on well-meaning persons, authorities and organisations to rein in the state government.