By Dayo Johnson, Akure

A twist has been introduced to the bloody clash between the lkale and the Araromi Obu communities in Ondo State over disputed land after living together since the 19th century.

Akeredolu

A court in Akure, the state capital, had ceded 57 of the 59 communities to lkale in a suit filed 15 years ago by the Ajobu of Araromi Obu, Oba Aderemi Adelola.

Among the ceded communities are the Araromi Oil Palm Estate Camp and the site occupied by the Rubber Estate Nigeria Limited (RENL).

Four persons had been killed and houses and vehicles razed while Adelola escaped death by whiskers during the face-off.

Consequently, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu imposed a 24-hour curfew on Ago Alaye and also visited the community where he read a riot act.

Ironically, Sunday Vanguard learnt that the mother of the Ajobu of Araromi-Obu, Adelola, is from Agirifon-Osooro in Ikale.

Meanwhile, the traditional rulers of lkale have accused the governor and the police of bias in their handling of the crisis.

Their spokesperson, General Oluyemi Bajowa, alleged that Akeredolu had formed an opinion before his visit to the troubled communities.

Bajowa, who is also the Jagunmolu of lkale, said, “While the houses of Araromi-Obu settlers torched in Ago Alaye were located along the roadside, those of the Ikale people torched in Araromi-Obu and its environs were located away from the roadside and immediate public glare.

“This apparently gave the wrong impression that Ikale people were the aggressors and also probably informed the reaction of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu who had formed an opinion before his visit to the palace of His Royal Majesty Oba George Faduyile, the Abodi of Ikaleland.

“Incidentally, I was at the palace of Oba Faduyile when the governor visited.

“I was shocked and horrified at the governor’s taking of the Abodi and other Ikale traditional rulers present to the cleaners.

“He threatened to instruct the security services to level to the ground Ago Alaye and other Ikale villages in Araromi-Obu and environs; he also threw caution to the wind by boasting that he does not need Ikale votes for his re-election.

“I advise the government to abide by the rule of law and implore the security services to confine their activities to the established/standard operational rules of engagement.

“As of today, 15 Ikale persons, including an 89-year-old man have been arrested and remanded in prison custody.

“Incidentally, these are people who were not involved in the fracas but were merely waiting for the governor to give him information that could have led to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

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“Surprisingly, no police arrest has been made on the side of Araromi-Obu settlers and neither was anything heard about the Araromi Obu aggressors arrested by the Military Task Force and who were handed over to security agencies.

“ln spite of reporting the unprovoked attack and injuries sustained by Ikale people to the Commissioner of Police, the police have neither investigated our petition nor asked about our injured persons. We were forced to lick our wounds.

“As a result of government partial actions, the Araromi-Obu settlers have been emboldened and have resorted to ordering all Ikale people to leave Araromi-Obu.

“The Rubber Estate Nigeria Limited (RENL) should be prevailed upon to stop treating our people as slaves on their land and give equal opportunities to Ikale people and indeed all citizens of Ondo State in conformity with the recent court judgment and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

But the Araromi Obu natives, speaking through the President of the Araromi-Obu Development Union, Senator Omololu Meroyi, said, “The Araromi-Obu people have been under severe attack from their Ikale neighbours over the judgment of an Akure High Court that ceded part of their land to Ikale people.

“Our experiences have been bitter in the last two weeks. Some people want to drive us away from our land. These people were born in Araromi Obu, they lived with us and never claimed to be landlords.

“There is a court judgment that ceded our lands to Ikale people. Rather than wait for the law to take its course, these people have taken the law into their hands.

“We will not cede an inch of our land to anybody. We are ready to defend our land with our blood. Local government people can no longer work. They invaded our land and prevented our people from going to farm. We are being suppressed in our land.

“It is not that we cannot fight back, but we did not want to contribute to the security challenges in the country. We appeal to men of goodwill to come into our aid before the situation gets out of hand.

“The monarch of Araromi Obu is the 18th Ajobu of Araromi Obu. There is nowhere in history that it was said that the Ikale people came to install monarch on our land. We cannot allow this kind of brutalization to continue”.

On its part, the police spokesperson in the state, Femi Joseph, denied bias in handling the crisis.

Joseph said aside mobile policeman, local policemen from the Okitipupa Area Command had also been drafted to the area to complement the team while normalcy had returned to the troubled communities.

Joseph said, “We have drafted our men to the area to restore normalcy. Some people have been arrested by our men in connection with the crisis. We have been able to restore peace back in the community while the command has begun investigation”.

Also reacting to the allegation bias levelled against Akeredolu by Bajowa, Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, said, “It is an unfair statement if anyone says the governor is biased in his handling of the crisis. Recall that he visited both areas and appealed for calm even as he deployed armed security to the area.

“The swift response by the governor stemmed the crisis, especially as it avoided reprisal attacks from either community.

“Mr. Governor’s commitment to peaceful coexistence among communities and ethnoreligious groups is sacrosanct and no effort will be spared in this regard.

“The state government maintains its position that all concerned should eschew violence while the issues in question are being looked into”.

VANGUARD