...We did not issue any letter- SLG refutes claim
The residents and indigenes of Keesan Orile, Ilogun Orile, Tibo, and Olorunda have protested the land incursion act of a Coronet King, the Orunda of Olorunda, Oba Phillips Segun Ogunshola. The protesters, who stormed the Abeokuta North Local Government Secretariat, Akomoje, early on Wednesday in large numbers, decried the monarch's greedy tendencies following his incursion into an extended land of a proposed market in Olorunda.
With various placards bearing inscriptions such as "We always craving for development but hate cheating," "Always listen to our side before taking any action on Olorunda matters," and "Withdraw the letter of authority given to the Coronet Oba on our land," they called for quick intervention from the Local Government.
In his address during the protest, the Akogun of Keesan Orile, High Chief Akinbode Abegunrin, said the people of the four communities detested the land incursion by the Coronet King on the said land, adding that they wouldn't allow him to grab their land under the guise of development.
Akogun Abegunrin further explained, "We did not expect Abeokuta North LG Authority to take sides by issuing a letter of authority to the Coronet King on our land, which was proposed for a market." He also said the land in question belongs to the communities and not the LG or the Coronet King. "It was proposed for market use; we won't allow the Coronet King to use the LG Authority to snatch our land."
Also speaking, a youth leader of one of the communities, Yemi Abegunrin, explained that recently, the Coronet King, Vice Chairman of the LG, Taiyelolu Egbeyemi, and some senior officers of the LG met with the people of the communities on the said land. After the addresses, they promised to call both parties together, but to their surprise, they saw that the produce (melons) planted on the land were destroyed by some people working for the Coronet King. Only then did they see the Coronet King bringing surveyors to survey the land, claiming an authorization letter had been issued to him by Abeokuta North Local Government.
"As I speak, his people are there doing one thing or another on the land," he said. "He is bragging that he has gotten the letter of authorization from the LG to do so. This really surprised us, as the LG during the talks held on the land pledged to meet both parties again."
Addressing the protesters alongside other senior officers of the Abeokuta North Local Government on behalf of the Chairman, Hon. Lanre Oyegbola-Sodipo, Secretary to the Council, Engr. Mutiat Agbaje, enjoined the protesters to continue being law-abiding, as they had done the right thing by coming to protest. She added that all their grievances would be passed across to the Abeokuta North Local Government Chairman. However, she informed the protesters that the council had not issued a letter of authorization to the monarch.
Corroborating that the LG had not issued a letter of authorization, one of the senior officers of the LG said she was part of the team from the LG that visited Olorunda during the recent meeting between the people of the communities, LG, and the Coronet King.
Meanwhile, a letter sighted by our reporter, dated June 13, 2023, addressed to the Coronet King, Oba Philip Segun Ogunshola, with reference number ANLG4/126A and the heading "Renovation of Olorunda Market," was signed by the Head of the Local Government Administration (HOLGA), Mrs. Kikelomo M. Ajayi, on behalf of the Executive Chairman, and copied to the Divisional Police Officer, Imala Police Station, Area Commander, Zone 2,Oke - ilewo, had two different signatures with the same name of the HOLGA.
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