The fragile peace that currently pervades Offa and Erin-Ile communities of Offa and Oyun local government areas of Kwara State may break down again. No thanks to the recent Supreme Court judgment.
Erin-Ile claimed it got the judgment on December 14, last year, ceding some parcels of land in Offa to Erin-Ile.
But Offa community has described its sister community’s claim as false.
The two communities had in the past engaged each other on bloody clashes over ownership of a parcel of land in between.
In January 2013, the two sister communities engaged each other in almost four days of bloody street brawl resulting in loss of lives and property.
The 2013 crisis was said to have been sparked when somebody from Erin-Ile came to Offa to buy tiles and the vehicle he used in transporting the materials back to Erin-Ile hit another vehicle belonging to an indigene of Offa.
This led to a serious argument and subsequently fracas ensued.
To prevent further loss of lives and property, Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed imposed a 24-hour curfew on the two communities.
The governor also set up a-10-man judicial commission of enquiry to investigate the causes of the crisis.
Said Governor Ahmed then: “To say the least, the barbaric destruction of lives and property during the latest crisis is alien to our way of life and offends our honour as a people. Let me, therefore, make it clear to all concerned: Never again will this kind of carnage be allowed to happen in any part of the state. No more will our people live in fear because a few selfish elements are bent on violence.
“Those trying to turn our communities into theatres of violence will fail. Anyone arrested for disrupting public order under any guise will face the full wrath of the law regardless of their status.
“Government is determined to find lasting solutions to the age-long dispute and devise measures to ensure that the tragic events do not recur.”
The commission is chaired by Justice Adeyinka Sikiru Oyinloye. Its terms of reference are to: determine the immediate and remote causes of the crisis, determine the extent of damage to property, determine the number of lives lost, determine the culprits and review the previous reports of committees/commissions on Erin-Ile/Offa crisis.
Speaking on the judgement, the National President, Erin-Ile Progressive Union, Samuel Olu Alabi, said: “In 1973, pursuant to the administrative judicial panel, headed by Dr Funsho Daramola, we got a Supreme Court judgment December 10 of that same year confirming the boundary of Erin-Ile as far as NEPA office, the present Offa Descendants Union (ODU)and several other places as belonging to Erin-Ile.
“There after, there had been some administrative interventions to distort the Supreme Court confirmation. Offa community and some other individuals in Offa felt they should litigate the once upon a time resolved boundary. Like any other court case, it started from the High Court, they lost. They appealed to the Court of Appeal; they lost and they finally appealed to the final court of the land. On the 14th of this month( last month), just few days back, the Supreme Court not only dismissed the appeal, it awarded a cost of 500,000 in favour of Erin-Ile.
“The court also classified the appeal as abuse of court processes against known legal norms. It confirmed that Erin-Ile’s land covers where we know now as the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Avalon Hotel, ODU secretariat and many other places. That is the background and the summary of the judgment.”
Mr. Alabi added that the community would soon swing into action for the enforcement of the judgment.
Said he: “We are running a community not a one man show. We have already set up a committee to review the judgment. The committee will advise the EPU national body and Elerin of Erin-Ile on the way forward.
“It will be too hasty for us now to say the steps we will take. We are studying the judgment and at the end of the day, the whole world will know where we are heading for.
“But, unlike the 1973 that we did not take steps, this time around, we will take necessary steps in accordance with the judgment. When and how we are going to do it is not yet determined. The steps we are going to take in the execution of the judgment validly delivered by the highest court of justice in Nigeria. There are established procedures for executing court judgments. This is what we are going to adopt. We will not do anything against the law. Any judgment that is not enforceable is mere waste of time and our judges would not deliver judgments that cannot be enforced.
“We must know that there is no appeal after any Supreme Court judgment. Like I said, it is not going to be like a military intervention. The whole world will be told. Our neighbours will be duly advised by newspaper adverts. We will not allow people to work on sentiment and allow the least informed people to think Erin-Ile is troublesome and violent.”
In the said suit number SC.516/2012, five Supreme Court justices dismissed the case filed at the apex court in 2012 by the duo of Abdulganiyu Adeniran and Abdullateef Lawal (for Adeniyi family, Offa).
The duo had dragged the Elerin of Erin-Ile, Oba Abdulganiyu Ibrahim, to court praying the court to reverse its 1973 judgment on a boundary dispute between Offa and Erin-Ile.
The five Supreme Court Justices that unanimously struck out the case on December 14, last year, were Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili, Ejembe Eko, Paul Adamu Galumje and Sidi Dauda Bage.
The judgment reads: “Again, the most crushing of the facts is that assuming the appeal was competent, it seems to me an abuse of court process since what is in dispute is the boundary between Offa community and Erin-Ile community, a matter well rested by this court in 1973, which has thrown up the principle of estoppel and the need to proclaim that the time has come for society to be mindful and not go chasing after issues long adjudicated upon and decided.”
The Supreme Court added that “the appeal being an abuse of court process is hereby dismissed. The suit before the trial court is dismissed on the principle of estoppel per rem judicatam.”
The lead judgment was read by Justice Mary Peter-Odili.
Before the expiration of his tenure late last year, former President of Offa Descendants Union (ODU), Alhaji Najim Yaasin, urged the state government to caution Erin-Ile not to cause unnecessary tension by spreading what he called false claims and reports to unsuspecting members of the public.
“Contrary to the claim of Erin-Ile, the Supreme Court did not award any land to Erin-Ile. The land in dispute between Offa and Erin-Ile dates back to the Adaramola’s boundary report, which awarded part of Offa’s land to Erin-Ile.
“That decision was challenged up to the Supreme Court and the court held that the decision could only be varied by the state government based on the law setting up the boundary commission.
“The present case arose from some families in Offa who want their ancestral land wrongly given to some families in Erin-Ile.
“The Supreme Court’s recent ruling struck out the appeal on technical grounds of improper parties before the court and the matter has been settled by the previous decision of the Supreme Court,” Yaasin’s letter to the state government reads:
“That the Dr Funsho Daramola’s report has been varied by different military governments of Kwara State. In 1975, Col. Ibrahim Taiwo amended the Bamgboye edict to set aside the Dr Funsho Daramola report and in its place, set up a committee of traditional rulers, headed by late Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Zulu Karnaeni Gambari, which eventually fixed the boundary at the crest of hill between the two communities called ‘Kere Ipinle’; a peace accord was signed by both communities. In 1985, Group Captain Salaudeen Latinwo published an advertorial acquiring some 500 meters on both sides of Kere Ipinle boundary line for buffer zone. In 1986, Wing Commander Ndatsu Umoru surveyed the buffer zone with register beacons and deposit accordingly. In 1997, Col. Pam Ogar (MILAD) signed the buffer zone into law and gazetted it accordingly. It is now crystal clear that various governments had varied severally, the decision of Dr. Funsho Daramola in the report and it is no longer valid.
“Offa, therefore, rejects any claim to land by Erin- Ile beyond the present status quo. Offa will not concede any part of its land to Erin-Ile. Offa reiterates its position that the Supreme Court has not awarded any land to Erin-Ile.
“The Kwara State government is hereby called upon to caution Erin-Ile from creating problems where none exists.”
The state governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has, however, intervened in a bid to prevent the issue from snowballing into a physical clash. He urged all the parties involved to exercise restraint and not throw caution to the wind.
Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Communications, Dr.Muyideen Akorede, who spoke to THE NATION, on behalf of the governor, said the state government “is still studying the court judgment, adding: “At the appropriate time, the state government will convene a meeting with parties involved to find amicable and everlasting solutions to the issue.
“The state is appealing to members of the two communities to stay calm and refrain from any act that could lead to the breakdown of law and order.”
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