The Great Ife Movement, a group representing indigenes of Ile-Ife in Osun State, has urged the state government and security agencies to intervene and halt plans by the Ogunsua of Modakeke, Oba Joseph Toriola, to install village heads in communities they claim belong to Ile-Ife. The group raised the alarm during a press briefing in Ile-Ife on Friday.
Femi Oyeyinka, President of the Great Ife Movement, stated that the villages where Oba Toriola intends to install heads are historically part of the Ife community. He listed the affected areas as Toro, Alapata, Oyere, Onibambu, and Oduranyin, among others, emphasizing that these villages are located within Ife North Local Government Area, not Ife East Local Government Area.
“From time immemorial, we know that Toro, Alapata, Oyere, Onibambu, Oduranyin, and other groups of villages within the aforementioned axis rightly belong to Ife families. Besides, these towns and villages are located in Ife North Local Government Area and not Ife East Local Government Area,” Oyeyinka said.
He further asserted that the areas fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Arole Oduduwa, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II. Oyeyinka described the planned installations as a criminal act of trespass and a direct challenge to the Ooni’s authority.
“We consider this attempt to install these illegal Baale as a criminal act of trespass and a clear affront to His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, the Ooni of Ife, who has been doing all within his royal power to promote peace through his well-acclaimed peace agenda,” he added.
Oyeyinka warned that the move could provoke unrest among residents and disrupt public peace. He called on Oba Toriola to cease all actions related to the proposed installations.
“Without mincing words, this illegal attempt to install Baales in areas which exclusively and ancestrally belong to Ife families is capable of causing disaffection among the residents in these areas, which could result in a breach of public peace. In view of the above-mentioned reasons, we now want Ogunsua of Modakeke Ile-Ife, Oba J.O. Toriola, to refrain from further action(s) connected with the proposed installation of Baale on Ife-owned lands,” he stated.
The group also raised concerns about recent activities in Ayingun, Oke-Eso, and Ile-Ife, alleging that Modakeke indigenes had transported sand to erect structures in the area.
“Information reaching us this morning is that Modakeke had gone to some parts of Ayingun, Oke-Eso, Ile-Ife to offload some lorry loads of sand to erect another gigantic structure there, claiming that Ayingun, Oke-Eso, Ile-Ife belongs to them again. We hereby appeal to the state government, law enforcement agencies, political leaders at the helm of the affair, respected monarchs, and other concerned stakeholders to quickly rise to this occasion urgently by ordering the Ogunsua of Modakeke, Ile-Ife, Oba J.O. Toriola, and, or any of his agents not to carry out the exercise of installing Baales in all the aforementioned areas and not to do other things contrary to the Rule of Law, which could lead to crisis/war in this part of the state,” Oyeyinka said.
Efforts to reach the President of the Modakeke Progressive Union, Prof. Peter Olawuni, for comment were unsuccessful as calls to his line did not connect. However, Venerable Debo Babalola, former Public Relations Officer for the MPU National Body and current Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Ife East Local Government, called for calm. He emphasized that both the Ooni of Ife and Oba Toriola have been advocating for peaceful coexistence between the two communities.
“Thieves raiding farms from both communities are the problem that must be tackled. Baba Ooni and our monarch, Oba Toriola, are for peace, and they have been advocating for it,” Babalola said.
