Ipe community urges Gov . AbdulRasaq to intervene in land dispute to avert crisis

Bolaji Omoola
The Ipee community in the Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State has appealed to Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq to intervene in its land dispute with the neighbouring Offa community.

The Ipee community appealed to the governor after Offa reportedly claimed that some families in Offa own a parcel of land at Ile Poro, where the federal government proposed building a housing estate.

According to press release by Ibrahim Toyin, the National Public Relations Officer of Ipee Progressive Union (IPU), the community said the project’s location at Ile Poro in the Egunkara area traditionally belongs to it. It said Offa’s claim arose from a “deliberate misrepresentation and misunderstanding” of a court judgement on the dispute.

It described the claim made by the ODU regarding ownership of the land as unfounded.
While congratulated the good people of Offa Community for securing a Federal Government’s housing estate;the Ipee Community advised Offa to site the project in areas within their community land without encroaching on Ipee land to maintain the existing peace, and harmony in the two communities.
The statement pointed out that the claim that the land at Poro belong to some families compound in Offa was fabricated and has no merit.
It explained that the claim was premised on deliberate misrepresentation and misunderstanding of the court judgment refered to in the bulletin published by Offa.
IPU submitted that the land at Poro has an age long history associated with and cherished by Ipee people.
It expressed the hope that these gestures are recognized as a commitment to good neighborliness and not weaknesses.
The Ipee Community emphasized that the families cited in the ODU bulletin have no historical claim to the land, having only been granted land for agricultural purposes by Ipee people as found in the court judgment referred to in the bulletin.