The reconstituted Committee on Land Matters and Chieftaincy Affairs set up by the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adesuyi Hastrup, has called on aggrieved residents of the six local government areas in the area to embrace Alternative Dispute Resolution in settling disputes relating to land ownership and chieftaincy.

This was disclosed by Prof. Kolawole Kazeem, secretary to the eight-member committee led by Pa Ebenezer Adefalu, while speaking at the maiden sitting of the panel in Ilesa, Osun State, on Thursday.

Kazeem, who spoke on behalf of Adefalu at the sitting attended by other members of the committee, including Oba Peter Adebamigbe, Rev. Abiodun Osungbohun, Prof. Olu Obi, Yemisi Ariyibi and Chief Daramola Daisi, said the panel would also collaborate with the Osun State Boundary Commission in handling complaints from communities in Ijesaland located along boundaries with other states.

“We want people to embrace this Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism. We will ensure that cases on land and chieftaincy already in court from all six local government areas in Ijesaland are sorted out peacefully.

“We should settle things amicably among ourselves without escalating them or making them serious matters. If you go to Osogbo, more than 70 per cent of cases on chieftaincy disputes come from Ijesaland. So this committee has the mandate to make sure that we reduce cases of chieftaincy disputes. We are not the final authority. We are playing an advisory role, and we are going to do our best,” Kazeem said.

On the committee’s readiness to partner with the Osun State Government through the Boundary Commission in resolving complaints from communities on the boundaries with other states, particularly those in the six local government areas of Obokun, Oriade, Ilesa East, Ilesa West, Atakumosa East and Atakumosa West, Kazeem declared readiness of the panel to present petitions received from such towns and villages to the commission and liaise with the agency to ensure fast-track resolution.

“The committee is to look not only into several cases of unlawful activities by persons known as ‘Omo Onile’, but also into the challenges of land grabbing and trespass by towns and villages sharing borders with Ijesaland. Now that we have that responsibility, it is part of our duty.

“Our role is to collaborate with anybody who has the responsibility to do that. The Boundary Commission is very important to us. We want to present the case on behalf of Ijesaland. That is what the Owa told us, and all the other monarchs in towns and cities in Ijesaland are involved in it. We have representatives from all local governments in this committee, so that we will have synergy in whatever we want to do.

“We have all the papers of those towns and villages. The moment they get to our table, we take them up with the Boundary Commission and share the discussion with them. They have the information. If we have to liaise with Ondo or Ekiti, we will do that. What we are looking at, and what we are looking for, is ensuring that there should be no wars over land and chieftaincy matters in Ijesaland,” he added.

He called on those with complaints to approach the committee with their petitions and submit 12 copies to the secretariat of the panel, adding that the group would hold its sitting four times a month.

The PUNCH earlier reported that Oba Adesuyi Hastrup, inaugurated the reconstituted Land Matters and Chieftaincy Affairs Committee, saddled the responsibility of addressing complaints on land and chieftaincy matters in Ijesaland and reiterated his earlier ban on activities of land grabbers in his domain.

Oba Hastrup at the event held in his palace in Ilesa, also warned those aiding land grabbers in the six local government areas in Ijesaland to desist of face dire consequences, and assured the committee of full support for it to deliver on its mandate.