Osun clash: Warring communities call for govt intervention
The people of Ilobu in Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State have made a passionate appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging him to intervene in what they describe as a systematic attempt to annihilate their community. In an open letter to the president, they accused their neighbouring communities, Ifon-Osun and Erin-Osun, of orchestrating […]
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The people of Ilobu in Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State have made a passionate appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging him to intervene in what they describe as a systematic attempt to annihilate their community.
In an open letter to the president, they accused their neighbouring communities, Ifon-Osun and Erin-Osun, of orchestrating relentless attacks aimed at forcefully displacing them from their ancestral land, despite multiple court rulings in their favour.
According to the letter, Ilobu has been under siege in recent days, with attackers allegedly from Ifon-Osun and Erin-Osun setting homes ablaze, shooting residents, and causing mass displacement.
The community described the assault as an unprovoked act of aggression, stating that despite their commitment to peaceful resolution through legal means, their neighbours have allegedly continuously resorted to violence.
The crisis escalated on March 18, 2025, when suspected ethnic militias from Ifon-Osun and Erin-Osun reportedly launched a coordinated attack on Ilobu.
Daily Trust reports that the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the warring communities.
Earlier on Monday, Adeleke paid an on-the-spot assessment of the communal crisis in Ifon, Ilobu and Erin-Osun communities of Osun State.
During the assessment, the governor appreciated the security agencies and other relevant stakeholders for their intervention and called for peace.
However, in their own response, the Erin-Osun community in an Open Letter signed by the National President, Erin-Osun Progressive Union (EPU), Chief Kayode Olawale, urged the Osun State Government to revamp the Boundary Dispute Panel Initiative in order to find a lasting solution to the recurrent communal crisis.
The community described the Open Letter by the Ilobu community stakeholders as “deliberately misrepresents facts, distorts the truth, and attempt to portray Ilobu as innocent in this conflict.”
The community appealed to the Osun State government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for support for the victims of the communal crisis involving three communities, Ilobu, Ifon-Osun and by extension Erin-Osun.