By Abiola Soneye, Abeokuta
The Olota of Ota, Oba (Prof) Adeyemi Obalanlege has vehemently condemned as false and cooked-up, the news being peddled about by some people who tagged themselves 'Gbalefa Peninsula' that he had made incursion into their land and was forcefully taking over their properties.
In a private chat with Journalist today, the monarch described as untrue, the news as carried by some online newspapers that he was a landgrabber, insisting that he had not forcefully taken over anybody's piece of land.
Oba Obalanlege explained that what he was doing was just to assert the authority of the Aworis over their land.
"But I have never taken anyone's land. The land belongs to various Awori families with court judgements!", he noted.
He said those that called themselves people of Gbalefa Peninsula are not the original settlers of the various villages they are laying claims to.
The monarch explained that they are farmer squatters who begged to farm on the land and are now trying to lay claim to their landlords' on (Awori) properties.
According to Oba Obalanlege, in the Awori's parlance, they are known as 'Onibiko', noting that the Gbalefa Peninsula claim was a cooked up story as there was no place, even from ancient time, called by this name in Ado Odo/Ota Area in Ogun State.
Citing a Certified True Copy of a statement made by the Ogun State Government at the High Court in the Ota Judicial Division in Suit No. NCT/122/2001 in a matter between one Mr Olatunji Oriyomi and five others claiming to be representatives of the Gbalefa Peninsula versus the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Ogun State and others, Obalanlege said that the state had categorically stated therein that there was no place so called in the state.
"There is no town or village or a collection of towns or villages known as Gbalefa Pennisula in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government", the certified true copy tendered by the state attorney asserted.
A copy of the Certified True Copy tendered by State Attorney in court.
Obalanlege maintained that a group of sojourner farmers cannot just wake up overnight to rewrite the story of the Aworis in order to lay claim to their properties.
The monarch also insisted that the authority of the Alake of Egbaland does not include Aworiland.
Citing another paper also from the Office Of The Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Ogun State with reference no. G9/TXLVII/T/147 and dated 3rd June 2021, Obalanlege said that the extent of the authority of the Alake of Egbaland is clearly spelt out.
The monarch urged government and good people of the state to ignore what he called "the tantrums of mischievous noise makers".
The copy of the letter, also from the Office Of The State Attorney General.
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