The Ekiti State Government, has warned communities experiencing inter- communal boundary disputes against resorting to thuggery and vandalism, saying such tendencies will no longer be tolerated to forestall unwarranted crisis in the state .
Sequel to this, the government threatened that whoever found destroying crops or displays any act of hooliganism on disputed farmlands would be arrested and prosecuted accordingly.
The Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, gave the directive in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday, while interfacing with stakeholders from Iloro, Odo- Owa and Ejiyan Ekiti in Ijero Local Government Area over escalating boundary dispute among the communities .
The traditional rulers present at the parley are: Oluloro of Iloro Ekiti, Oba Olufemi Olugbesoye , the Olowa of Odo Owa, Oba Ayorinde Oyedeji and Obalaaye of Ejiyan Ekiti, Oba Adesesan Adepoju.
Addressing the stakeholders, Mrs Afuye, in a statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Victor Ogunje, said issues of criminalities being recorded on this disputed farmland won’t be tolerated by Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration, to avert bloodshed and wanton destruction of property.
Mrs Afuye expressed disgust over how some people were going to the farms cultivated by individuals in the area under contention to either steal or destroy them, even when the government was making frantic efforts to resolve the bedlam, saying such won’t be tolerated since the society is governed by law.
“Whoever came to the farmland to harvest Cocoa, Kolanut, maize and others when he is not the true owner should be arrested. Let us exercise patience and restraint. If there is a crisis on a land, whoever farms there should be allowed to harvest their products. But if the case doesn’t favour him in the end, then he will vacate the land.
“Nobody should deploy thugs to the farms to enforce anything. Allow government to take dispassionate actions and adjudicate on the disputed land matters, instead of individuals taking laws into his hands.
“The technical committee will visit the place to ascertain the veracity of your claims. But we don’t want to hear anyone burning down people’s farms or steal their crops, it is criminal and such will not be tolerated”.
Mrs Afuye warned that whoever found perpetrating criminality should be arrested and handover to the police for prosecution, rather than killing or inflicting injuries on them that could be deemed to be illegal and actionable.
As part of the troubleshooting efforts, the Deputy Governor, pledged that the paramount Ruler of the kingdom and Ajero and Ijero Ekiti, Oba Joseph Adewole would be invited by government to shed light on the ownership of the land under contention.
Corroborating the Deputy Governor’s position, the Surveyor General of Ekiti State, Surveyor Adebayo Faleto, said the Ekiti State Boundary Technical Committee will visit the disputed land and ascertain the ownership to prevent unnecessary crisis.
The traditional rulers of the towns: Oluloro of Iloro Ekiti, Oba Olufemi Olugbesoye , the Olowa of Odo Owa, Oba Ayorinde Oyedeji and Obalaaye of Ejiyan Ekiti, Oba Adesesan Adepoju, promised to work with the technical committee to resolve the dispute.
However, the monarchs in their respective submissions insisted that the lands in the area belonged to their communities from time immemorial and that history supported such position.