The Ekiti State Government, has appealed to communities locked in land disputes to stop resorting to arbitrary legal actions that could heat up the polity and cause violence.
The government advised the communities to always appear before the Land Dispute Resolution Committee set up by the government to resolve pending issues before proceeding on litigation.
The Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, gave the appeal in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday, while presiding over a petition brought by Orun community against the neighbouring Ise and Emure Ekiti over a lingering land crisis among the towns.
The trouble-shooting action was based on a petition dated 28th November, 2018, written by Orun community to the Ekiti State Boundary Commission under the supervision of the Deputy Governor on the need to intervene in the matter.
In the petition, Orun community claimed that it remains the original owner of the land settled on by Emure and Ise and that it sounded nauseating for the two towns to be encroaching on its lands through their borders.
Advising the feuding communities, in a statement by her Media Assistant, Victor Ogunje, Mrs Afuye, said the committee has experts and bureaucrats with deep knowledge about boundary delineation that can resolve any land crisis between communities.
The Deputy Governor lamented that government has realised that litigations emanating from land matters often brewed enmity and bad blood, with potential danger for inter-communal clashes if not nipped in the bud.
She stressed that allowing the committee to handle some of the cases would mitigate the crises in some of the communities.
Mrs Afuye said: “We have listened to all of you and one thing you must not joke with is peace in our different communities. We need peace in all the 16 local governments, because without it, we can’t have development.
“If you look at the three towns, you are closely knitted and you have inter-married , so there is a need for you to live in harmony.
“When there is commotion, nobody ever knows the end. We must learn how to cohabit peacefully and that is the ultimate objective of our Governor, Biodun Oyebanji.
“You had been to court in the past and another issue is rearing its head now. I appeal to you to allow our committee to visit the contentious areas and come up with its report.
“Don’t just go to court without taking the option of appearing before this committee, it was meant to ensure peace in our towns”.
Meanwhile, Mrs Afuye, has given the committee three weeks to conclude its work, which involve visiting the disputed areas, interact with the communities and come up with its findings to guide the government properly.
