• Ilaje group faults claims on oil drilling, Olokola Seaport
The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government to immediately douse the growing tension between the oil-rich Eba Island-Atijere communities on the boundary between Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State and Ogun State to avoid a likely breakdown of law and order.
The House was reacting to a statement by the Ilaje socio-cultural organisation, Egbe Omo Ilaje Worldwide, against the Ogun State government’s alleged approval for oil drilling activities in Eba community and plans to develop a deep seaport under a renamed Olokola Free Trade Zone.
The group described the claims as misleading and a direct encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ondo State.
It insisted that Eba is a riverine community located in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.
In a statement yesterday by its President-General, Prince Iwamitigha Raphael Irowainu, Egbe Omo Ilaje stressed that Eba is an entirely Ilaje community with one of Nigeria’s oldest forest reserves, which it said was acquired during the colonial era from Ilaje traditional rulers.
The organisation recalled that evidence of bituminous oil surfacing in Ago-Alaja village, Eba, was first reported by residents in 2013. This, it said, prompted a joint investigation by the Ondo State Ministry of Environment and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA).
Egbe Omo Ilaje claimed that samples taken from the site were analysed and later presented to officials of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), after which the Ondo State government restricted access to the area for security reasons.
In a resolution following a motion of urgent public importance by Donald Ojogo, the House asked the National Boundary Commission to urgently put in place measures to determine the status of the disputed area.
Ojogo told the House that “what is now known as the Mahin Kingdom in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State was initially christened the Mahin country, and it has existed, even before pre-colonial days”.
He added: “In 1885, the paramount and natural ruler of that enclave, known as the Amapetu of Mahin, signed an agreement with the colonial authorities to join the entire Mahin country and the Island or land called Atijere into the colony of Lagos, where it was being administered up till the time of the 1914 Amalgamation.
“Atijere, alongside its adjoining towns, such as Irokun, Igboedun, Eba, Obinneyin, Araromi seaside, Mahintedo, and Itebu-Elero, to mention just a few, have remained under the paramountcy of the Amapetu, a first-class and Grade A traditional ruler in Ondo State ever since that historic treaty with the British Colonial Authorities.
“Following this recognition, Atijere, serving as the headquarters of other satellite towns, including Eba, hosted the Native Court in 1933. In all these, the Amapetu of Mahin Kingdom appointed vassal chiefs who have always been of Ilaje descent and ethnic background of the then Ondo Province and lately, Ondo State.
“All infrastructure, that is, roads, hospitals, schools, and other social amenities, were/are provided for by the then Ondo Province/Ondo government up to date.
“Eba Island, for instance, firmly falls within Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State. The geographic coordinates align with officially recognised national and international mapping systems, and such cannot be altered by opinion or speculation.
“Eba Island has, for decades, been administered as part of the Atijere Forest Reserve under the Ondo State hovernment authority without any formal protest or legal challenge from Ogun State; the location of of the Oil Field (Ago Balogun Community), otherwise known as the Eba Oil Field, falls within Ago Balogun Community, customarily, historically, and traditionally governed under Atijere Kingdom in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State which further reinforces the fact that the original inhabitants of Eba Island are the Ilaje sub-ethnic group of the Yoruba ethnic nationality.
“Even without any legal instrument in, no judgment of any competent court, no National Boundary Commission determination, and no constitutional instrument designating Eba Island or the Eba Oil Field as part of Ogun State. Media opinions and publications have twisted historical facts by insinuating that they belong to Ogun State.
“This situation has culminated in an avoidably brewing tension, almost precipitating a breakdown of Law and Order.”
In its protest, the Egbe Omo Ilaje alleged that land speculators later invaded the area with security personnel, claiming to be acting on the authority of the Ogun State government.
The group said the development was formally reported to the Ondo State government and condemned by Ilaje monarchs.
Giving its position on the proposed Olokola Deep Seaport, Egbe Omo Ilaje said Olokola was historically an Ilaje settlement designated during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a Free Trade Zone for major industrial projects, including a deep seaport and refinery.
The group explained that Ogun State’s involvement in the Olokola project was merely a compromise aimed at resolving boundary disputes.
It added that unresolved disagreements had earlier forced the giant investor, Aliko Dangote, to relocate his refinery project to Lagos State.
“It is shocking and unacceptable for Ogun State to now unilaterally rename Olokola and claim exclusive rights over a deep seaport project in an area where it has no coastal territory,” the statement said.
Egbe Omo Ilaje insisted that Ijebu land, which forms Ogun State’s southern boundary, has no coastline.
The group claimed that only Lagos and Ilaje constitute the contiguous Yoruba coastal areas.
It added that this fact is clearly documented in colonial records.
Egbe Omo Ilaje also accused the Ogun State government of making the claims to mislead security authorities and provoke tension in the area, warning that any attempt to assert control over Ilaje ancestral land would be resisted.
It urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reject or withdraw any approval allegedly granted through Ogun State for projects in Eba or Olokola.
The group also urged the Ondo State government to take firm steps to protect Ilaje territory in the interest of peace, justice, and stability in the coastal region.
