Royal wars: Osun embroiled in conflicts as chieftaincy disputes rage in communities

BOLA BAMIGBOLA investigates the ongoing chieftaincy tussles across Osun State, exposing the violence, loss of lives, and destruction of property they leave in their wake

Governor Ademola Adeleke took office in Osun State on November 27, 2022, and inherited the burden of upheaval of several chieftaincy tussles across the state from the immediate-past administration of Adegboyega Oyetola. Over two years down the line, the administration has continued to wriggle in the web of crises occasioned by tussles over traditional stools in many communities in the state.

The crises have led to the destruction of properties and loss of lives in many instances. Bitter rivals for the stools are seen daily besieging different courts in search of a judicial lifeline to either cement their hold on power or dislodge the current occupant.

Until the Osun State High Court that sat in Ile-Ife voided the removal of the Owa of Igbajo, Oba Adegboyega Famoodun, on January 30, 2025, the chieftaincy fight appeared to be reducing across the state.

Justice A. Ayoola’s judgment, which immediately sparked online and offline jubilation within the All Progressives Congress fold, was clobbered by members of the Peoples Democratic Party. This exposed deep-seated political hatred as the underlying cause of most chieftaincy crises in the state.

Oba Famoodun had been removed by the Adeleke-led administration, following the implementation of the resolutions contained in the White Paper issued by the panel that probed the events preceding his appointment as a traditional ruler.

Famoodun, who until then was the chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Osun State, was appointed in the twilight of Oyetola’s administration in November 2022.

Justice Ayoola, who granted all the reliefs sought by the claimant in his two-hour judgment, nullified the process leading to Famoodun’s removal.

Specifically, the judge voided the White Paper relied upon by the state government in making its decision regarding the Owa of Igbajo stool, insisting that, in the eyes of the law, Famoodun remains the monarch of the Igbajo community.

Ido Osun, Ede in cold war over Ajeniju’s installation

Earlier, the cold war brewing between Ede and its next-door neighbour, Ido Osun, got to the head when Oba Jeleel Olaiya was installed as the Ajeniju of Halleluyah by the Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Lawal.

Halleluyah, a community hitherto considered to be part of Ido Osun, suddenly became a smouldering spot. Ido Osun people did not hide their displeasure and the stage appeared set for an epic battle with Ede over the development.

Specifically on Friday, January 3, 2025, a crisis erupted when some youths attacked Oba Olaiya while attempting to conduct a Jumat service in his palace.  Oba Olaiya was beaten to a pulp by the youth, saying he had no right to install a Chief Imam in the community or hold Jumaat service within the precinct of Ido Osun, a community which has its own Chief Imam already.

The aggrieved youth, seen in the footage of the attack, queried Olaiya’s authority to install an imam and conduct Juma’t prayer in a domain belonging to a separate monarch. After the assault, the mob left him with bodily injury and vandalised his palace. Security operatives later intervened and returned normalcy to the area.

When confronted with the allegations that it masterminded the attack on Ajeniju, the Ido Osun community dismissed the allegations.

The grand patron of the Ido Osun Advisory Council, Mr Gbadebo Ajao, at a press conference, said, “About the dump site where they built their palace, Governor Aregbesola came to request the land from us (Ido Osun) for the dump site. We are the land owners, so compensation was made to the people of this community.”

Iragbiji on edge

In Iragbiji, the hometown of the immediate-past governor of the state, Oyetola, the ratification of a white paper on the inclusion of the Lagbua family among those eligible to produce Aragbiji is also threatening peace in the community.

While the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdulrosheed Olabomi, said the inclusion of the family was uncalled for and demanded the reversal of the decision, the Lagbua family celebrated Adeleke administration for giving them justice over the agelong struggle to join the elite league of family eligible to vie for the throne.

Ile-Ife, Modakeke set for another war?

From Ede, Ido Osun communal battle over Halleluyah Area, attention shifted to Ile-Ife, where the leadership of Great Ife Movement, a group of indigenes of the community, called on the state government and security agencies to intervene and stop the Ogunsua of Modakeke, Oba Joseph Toriola, from installing village heads in some communities that belong to the town.

Addressing journalists in Ile-Ife on the matter, the President of the movement, Femi Oyeyinka, stated that those villages where Ogunsua was planning to install heads belong to the Ife community. Oyeyinka further alleged that the villages, including Toro, Alapata, Oyere, Onibambu, and Oduranyin, among others, belong to Ife families.

“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 the Ife North Local Government Area and not the Ife East Local Government Area.

“These areas are under the exclusive jurisdiction of His Imperial Majesty, Arole Oduduwa, the Ooni of Ife. 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, the Ooni of Ife, who has been doing all within his royal power to promote peace through his well-acclaimed peace agenda.

“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. Given 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.

“Information reaching us this morning is that Modakeke had gone to some parts of Ayingun, Oke-Eso, lle-Ife to offload some lorry loads of sand to erect another gigantic structure there, claiming that Ayingun, Oke-Eso, lle-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 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.

But a former Public Relations Officer for MPU National Body, Ven Debo Babalola, who is currently the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Ife East Local Government chapter, called for peace, adding that both Ooni and Ogunsua have been advocating for peaceful co-existence between the two communities.

“Thieves raiding farms from both communities are the problem that must be tackled. The Ooni and our monarch, Oba Toriola, are for peace and they have been advocating for it”, Babalola said.

Esa Oke, Ido Ayegunle issue

Leaving Ife, Modakeke, the whirlwind of chieftaincy tussle moving around the state arrived at the sleepy boundary community of Esa Oke, where, the indigenes kicked over the announcement of Prince Timileyin Oluyemi Ajayi as the Olojudo of Ido Ayegunle.

The Esa-Oke Central Union, a group of indigenes of Esa-Oke in Osun State, in a reaction to the mayhem that engulfed the community after Ajayi’s appointment, alleged that some assailants in police uniform invaded the town and shot residents, leaving them injured.

In some footage obtained from some residents, five people were shown drenched in blood after allegedly being shot by the assailants.

Addressing journalists on the incident, Awodiran, who spoke on behalf of the union, said three vehicles were also razed on the premises of the palace of the Owamiran of Esa Oke, Oba Adeyemi Adediran, during the crises caused as a result of disagreement over the appointment of Ajayi by the state government.

Awodiran, who said the pandemonium broke out after the announcement of a new monarch for Ido Ayegunle, insisted that a stranger was appointed as a traditional ruler over the community located within Esa-Oke town.

“The Esa Oke community had in the past vehemently resisted the attempt to install an oba or baale in the community, as the said settlement is right inside Esa Oke town, a few metres to the campus of Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke.

“My heart bleeds and my head aches as I stand before you today to inform you that men in police uniform invaded the Esa Oke community and started shooting sporadically, leaving several people wounded in the mayhem. Three vehicles were also razed on the premises of the palace of Owamiran.

“To us, the appointment of a baale or oba on another town’s territory negates all logic, tradition and history. Esa Oke is in the Ijesa North Federal Constituency. The settlement (Ido Ajegunle) on which a monarch was appointed is Unit 11, a polling station under Esa Oke. As I stand here to address you, youths in Esa Oke are being arrested arbitrarily and are being moved to unknown places,” Awodiran said.

He called on the heads of security agencies in the state and the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security to investigate the killing in the community to bring to book the perpetrators.

But the state police command, having denied shooting residents of Esa Oke, said seven police operatives were shot and injured by some yet-to-be-identified assailants while travelling to the community to quel the crises.

Adeleke demands end to grievances

In one of the meetings held to resolve chieftaincy crises in Esa Oke, Adeleke, who said his administration would not be weary in handling crises in any part of the state, frowned upon the rising cases of violence whenever people had grievances.

He demanded an immediate stop to violence over boundary and chieftaincy disagreements in the state.

Calling on the residents to always consider civil ways to resolve a disagreement, Adeleke said “If you are not pleased, write your petition and bring it and I will act on it. There is no need for you to start fighting because I will do justice to it.”

Govt following rule of law – Commissioner

The Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, speaking on the crises, said, “The government is adhering to the rule of law in chieftaincy matters. These issues are generally regulated by law, and we are following due process. For cases already in court, we allow the judicial process to run its course. Where disputes are not before the court, we typically establish a judicial panel of inquiry to resolve them.

“Regarding the issues in Esa-Oke and Ayegunle, the government is in the process of setting up a commission of inquiry. The matter concerning the Lagbua family was resolved by the previous administration. For any other disputes, we either use the existing government mechanisms or establish a commission of inquiry when necessary. In summary, we are strictly following the rule of law in handling chieftaincy matters in Osun.”