Awori indigenes of Iba community have said claims by Ojo community to be owners of the land on which Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo campus is sited were false.
Speaking on behalf of indigenes, Bale of Sabo Oniba Taofeek Oseni, described a statement by Ojo Kingdom laying claim to the land as a rude shock to them. He wondered how they could claim what doesn’t belong to them.
Oseni said the Iba community doesn’t want crisis on the issue, adding that the government had acquired the land and both kingdoms were benefiting from the institution.
He said: “We, the Iba people, are a peace-loving kingdom. We don’t want crisis in both kingdoms, government had acquired the land in question and both kingdoms are benefiting from the school sited on the land.
“Even if the government wants to pay compensation today, to the real land owner, they know where to go. They have their intelligence report and also a survey since colonial era up to the Independence period.
“If the government doesn’t want to be biased with the issue, they know better than Ojo and Iba kingdoms on the ownership of the land. We are not ready to fight anybody, but if they are ready, we are going to confront them.
“We want to correct the insinuation made by our brothers from Ojo Kingdom that the entire land that houses LASU is on Oniba land under Oniba Kingdom. Even the entire land of Ojo itself, from time immemorial, is on Iba land but was later ceded to them for peace to reign between the two kingdoms.
“After the cases that came up, there was settlement between parties and the current boundary, which everybody knows and we are aware of Iragbogun, which passes through the bridge at Alaba International Market that demarcated Ojo from Sabo Oniba and came through to where we now know as Franklass, went through the gate of LASU, came through to some parts of Iyana Iba.
“We have our facts if the Ojo Kingdom doesn’t have theirs. If you go to where I’m talking about, you will see these descriptions and that is our bargain between Iba and Ojo. LASU, as we all know, is land that was acquired and before LASU was sited at where we known today, it was formerly a Federal Government College, which has been taken to where we know as Agric in Ojo.
“The transfer of that college was necessary when the Lagos State government came with the idea of having that place to be used for the Lagos State University. As you can see, what was being moved from the land, which was on the land, is a Federal Government College.
‘It means the Federal Government acquired the land initially and the acquired land is part of the army cantonment acquired from Iba Kingdom, of which part is being used for the Federal Government College. It was later transferred to Ojo Kingdom to be used for the Lagos State University and everybody knows it.”