THE Head (Odiowere) of Isibor-Ewuare community, a sub-urban area in Benin City, Edo State, Pa. Edosa Imafidon Obazee, has denied the allegations of boundary encroachment and forceful possession of land made against his community by the neighbouring Iguotor community.
Pa Obazee, who described the allegations by Iguotor community as baseless, misleading and lacking in truth, maintained that the said portion of land belongs to some dissidents of his community.
He disclosed that the late Oba Erediauwa had, in 2007, mediated on the boundary disagreement between the two communities.
The community head said consequent upon the late oba’s intervention, a demarcation was made by the chiefs sent from the palace with the planting of Nim tree and the creation of road named after the Oba as the boundary in the presence of two communities.
He said: “In flagrant disobedience to the oba’s resolution, the people of Iguotor community used a bulldozer to remove the Nim tree which serves as the boundary demarcation and entered forcefully into Isibor Ewuare’s land, claiming it to be the boundary.
“Isibor Ewuare took them to court on the issue and the paper they were parading in court was alleged to have been produced by a panel from the palace but the one Isibor Ewuare tendered was pronouncement by the Oba and not any panel.”
He asserted that the Edo State High Court 8, in Benin gave judgment in favour of Isibor Ewuare with N20,000.000 damages against Iguotor.
Obazee added that ithe court also upheld the earlier resolution of the late oba, which stated that 200ft to their ancestors’ sanctuary is for the people of Isibor Ewuare.
“We want to let the public know that it was not Isibor Ewuare people who brought caterpillar to work on the said land, rather it was the owner and it was also in the presence of the people of Iguotor, they even joined in safeguarding the caterpillar while at work.
“After a month, the people of Iguotor went on air and also petitioned the AIG, Police Zone 5 and others that the people of Isibor Ewuare have forcefully taken over their land, which is totally false.
“We are, therefore, appealing to the palace of Benin to call both Isibor Ewuare and Iguotor people to find who actually brought the caterpillar.
The village, however, reaffirmed that isibor Ewuare is not under Iguotor, or Evbuotubu community, as claimed in some quarters.
He pointed out that Iguotor is in Ovia North East Local Government Area while Isibor Ewuare is in Egor local government area of the state and every community is autonomous on its own.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Shukroh Adeyemi is a first-class graduate of the Department of English, Lagos State University (LASU), for the…
Full list: Names of ex-governors receiving pensions in 10th Senate
No fewer than 13 former governors still receive pension allowances as serving senators in the…
Mmesoma’s father apologises, begs JAMB, Nigerians, to pardon daughter
Mr Romanus Ejikeme, the father of Mmesoma Ejikeme, the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate who…
Asisat Oshoala shortlisted for 2023 Ballon d’Or award
Nigerian football star and Super Falcons forward, Asisat Oshoala, has been named as a nominee for the…
3 lessons from the ethnicization of JAMB controversy
OVER the last few days, Irecoiled in horror and disgust as the fairly straightforward case of JAMB exam result fraud by…
Rahinatu Ibrahim, popularly called Ganga, recalled with nostalgia when she first embarked on her journey to the…