By Dayo Johnson, Akure

The Ondo State Government has faulted claims by the Nigerian Navy that an abandoned oil well at Oke-Agor-Isekun is located in Ogun State.

The Navy had reported foiling an attempt by oil thieves to exploit the oil well, describing the site as an island near the Ogun-Ondo boundary and asserting that the well falls within Ogun territory.

In a swift response, Mr. Allen Sowore, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Strategic Communication, insisted that the oil well is historically and legally within Ondo State.

“Ondo and Ogun are distinct states with well-defined boundaries. The claim that the oil well belongs to Ogun State is a deliberate misrepresentation,” Sowore stated.

He traced the history of the land, asserting that Eba Island, where the oil well is situated, has been part of Ondo State since the colonial era under Governor John Hawley Glover before Nigeria’s 1914 amalgamation. The island later became part of the old Ondo Province and remains under Ilaje Local Government jurisdiction to this day.

“The surrounding communities—Ago Alaja, Balogun Bode, and Fasuyi—have always been cluster villages of the Atijere community in Ondo State. Successive village heads, including Chief Segun Fasuyi, were installed by the Ondo State Government, and the inhabitants are all Ondo indigenes,” he explained.

Sowore emphasized that oil wells are federal assets but their host communities and locations must be accurately identified. “The well in question is undoubtedly within Ondo State,” he stressed.

To enhance security at the site, the Ondo State Government has directed collaboration between the Nigerian Navy’s Forward Base at Igbokoda and other security agencies in Ogun State for joint patrols.

The government called on the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and relevant federal agencies to clarify the matter with documentary evidence, assuring full cooperation to protect the oil facility and resolve the dispute.