Ipee Community Calls On Gov AbdulRasaq To Caution Offa Community Over Alleged Encroachment Into Its Land

The Ipee Community in the Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State has called on the state Governor, AbdulRahman AbduRasaq to caution the Offa community which they said has laid claims to a land at Ile Poro which belongs to them .

Ipee Community said Offa is falsely laying claim to the land saying it belongs to some family compounds in Offa.

Ipee Community warns that the governor’s urgent intervention will lead to avoidance of chaos between the two communities.

It would be recalled that the proposed siting of a Federal Government Housing Estate in Offa was approved with the location for the project at Ile Poro in the Egunkara Area but the Ipee Community said the location site falls into its territory

Ipee community described the claims by Offa that Ile Poro belongs to it as “fabricated, unfounded and has no merit, premised on deliberate misrepresentation, misunderstanding of the court judgment referred to in the Offa Descendants Union bulletin”.

The Ipee community noted that the land at Poro has an agelong history associated with and cherished by Ipee people.

In a statement issued and made available to journalists by Ibrahim Toyin, the National Public Relations Officer,
Ipee Progressive Union (IPU), he frowned at the land encroachment at Poro saying that the said land does not belong to Offa community .

The Ipee progressive Union emphasised that the approved location for the project in Ile Poro in the Egunkara area which Offa Descendants Union (ODU) claimed and which has now been officially designated for the housing estate project does not in anyway belongs to Offa.

Ipee community has however enjoined Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq to call the Offa Descendants’ Union (ODU), under the leadership of Dr. Muideen Azeez Olaniyi Salako to order urging them to look for another area for the proposed siting of a Federal Government Housing Estate in Offa in the interest of peace and tranquility.

The Ipee Community said in the statement “Attention of Ipee Progressive Union (IPU) under the leadership of Mr. Simeon Ayodele Ogunsola has been drawn to a bulletin recently issued by Offa Descendants ‘ Union claiming the ownership of Ile Poro in the axis of Ori-Ota, Ipee, Oyun Local Government of Kwara State.”

“Without prejudice to all land cases in that axis, the IPU wishes to clarify that Ile Poro has always been, and remains, an integral part of the Ipee community. The claims made by the ODU regarding ownership are, in our view unfounded.”

“As we congratulate the good people of Offa Community for securing a Federal Government’s housing estate, it is our sincere advice that they site the project in area within their community land without encroaching on Ipee land so as to maintain the existing peace, and harmony in the two communities.”

“The claim that the land at Poro belong to some families compound in Offa was fabricated, unfounded and has no merit and the claim was premised on deliberate misrepresentation/misunderstanding of the court judgment referred to in the bulletin. The land at Poro has an agelong history associated with and cherished by Ipee people.”

“The IPU acknowledges the instances where the Ipee community has, in the interest of peaceful coexistence, made concessions regarding land to the Offa community. We hope that these gestures are recognized as a commitment to good neighborliness and not weaknesses. ”

“We urge the leadership of the ODU, and any individual or families from Offa, to cease making claims to Ile Poro or any other land within Ipee.”

“We wish to emphasize 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.”