The Esa-Oke Joint Action Working Committee has petitioned the Osun Government and security agencies against Mr Sunday Igboho over alleged false land ownership claims and threatened aggression against the town.
The committee said this in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman of the Esa-Oke Central Union, Otunba Yinusa Bamigboye, and the Chairman of the Esa-Oke Renewal Initiative, Prince ‘Wumi Adeniyi.
The committee rebutted claims in recent videos, public statements, and photographs circulating on social media by Igboho, also called Sunday Adeyemo, accompanied by Mr Timileyin Ajayi.
According to the committee, Igboho allegedly made false claims and threatened the community over a disputed land involving Ido Aiyegunle, located squarely within Esa-Oke territory situated between Osun and Ekiti States.
While dismissing all claims, the committee called on the Osun State Gov. Ademola Adeleke to intervene without delay, warning that the provocation directed at Esa-Oke demands an “urgent and decisive response.”
The statement also urged security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, and relevant military authorities to act immediately to restrain Timileyin Ajayi and his associates.
The committee said it was compelled to respond because “false claims, left unrebutted, have a dangerous tendency to calcify into public fact.”
It dismissed the claims being circulated about the land’s ownership as “not merely false” but also “defamatory, calculated, and a direct assault on the hard-won peace and reputation of Esa-Oke.”
On the substance of the dispute, the committee stated that the boundary issue involving Ido Aiyegunle, situated between Osun and Ekiti States, had long been subject to litigation and administrative inquiry.
The group stressed that the boundary dispute involving the settlement known as Ido Aiyegunle, situated between Osun and Ekiti States, has long been a subject of both litigation and administrative inquiry.
“The matter was recently reignited following the Osun State Government’s approval of an Oba over a farmstead located squarely within Esa-Oke territory. The State Government has since responded appropriately by constituting an Administrative Panel of Inquiry.
“That panel’s report is yet to be released, and all parties are bound by that process.
“This matter is presently before a Court of Law. It is actively being heard and adjudicated upon,” it said.
It condemned any resort to self-help, saying hiring non-state actors and adopting what it called a “Boko Haram-style strategy of intimidation” in a country with a functioning judicial system is “reckless” and “contemptuous of the rule of law.”
The committee described the spectacle of Sunday Igboho visiting the disputed farmstead in the company of Timileyin Ajayi as “nothing short of shameful.”
The statement questioned why Mr Timileyin Ajayi would engage Sunday Igboho, “a man from Oyo State, to intimidate Esa-Oke people.
It said the move “speaks volumes about the character and intentions of those behind this campaign.”
The committee argued that these were not the actions of people with legitimate grievances, but of “land-grabbers, operating with impunity, emboldened by desperation, and shielded, it would appear, by powerful but unnamed interests.”
It expressed both pain and indignation at the timing of the actions.
The group maintained that “the provocateurs and their sponsors chose the period of mourning for Esa-Oke’s departed monarch to descend upon Esa-Oke with known instruments of violence” describing the act as a declaration of war against a peaceful community.
The committee described the timing as “deliberate” and “cruel,” arguing that it was designed to exploit the town’s grief.
It added that choosing to act “in the shadow of our grief makes their conduct all the more unconscionable.”
It also criticised the reported warm reception given to the pair by certain traditional rulers.
“This happened even as our community mourns the passing of a fellow monarch, and without so much as a hearing granted to the other party in this dispute.”
It also appealed to traditional rulers in Ijeshaland not to allow their offices and dignity to be “weaponised by desperate individuals pursuing illegal agendas,” insisting that “the throne must not be a tool of brigandage.”
The committee served a notice on Timileyin Ajayi to withdraw completely from Esa-Oke farmland until a court of competent jurisdiction determines ownership.
The committee dismissed the social media narrative pushed by Ajayi and Igboho as an attack not only on Esa-Oke but also on the integrity of the Osun State Government and its efforts to restore peace.
It categorically denied all the claims, urged the public to disregard them, and cautioned those behind the campaign of disinformation to desist.
The committee appealed to Esa-Oke residents to remain calm, continue their lawful activities peacefully, and avoid provocation.
It expressed absolute confidence in the rule of law and in the willingness of government to protect its citizens and deliver justice