The Osun State House of Assembly has assured protesting land owners from Kelebe-Omu that it will do everything within the jurisdiction of the law to ensure they repossess their land.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Wale Egbedun gave the assurance on Tuesday, as the landowners protested the continued disobedience of a court judgment by the Nigerian Army.
OsunDailyNG gathered that the Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo had in January 2023 proclaimed that the land in dispute was the sole property of the land owners, under the aegis of the Kelebe-Omu land owners association.
The court also proclaimed that the Nigerian Army was a tenant on the land.
Egbedun who was represented by Adewumi Adeyemi, a lawmaker representing Obokun State Constituency said the Assembly would take up the matter within the jurisdiction of the law.
Adeyemi also urged the protesters to ensure their protest was conducted in a peaceful manner.
“We don’t want chaos or disturbance if the peace we already have in Osun State.
“Like I said, the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly has delegated everyone of us here to address you in his name. So, the House of Assembly is the one addressing you.
“We have in our possession all your documents and the judgment papers and the order for execution from the state high court. One thing I’d assure you is that the House of Assembly under the leadership of Right Honourable Adewale Egbedun is going to take a very fast step on this issue because he has made up his mind to uphold the law at every point in time.
“As of today, the law says you’re the rightful owner of the land except a court of competent jurisdiction rules otherwise at a later date.
“The Speaker is going to take steps on it to make sure it is resolved very fast
“This step is also necessary because we are enjoying peace in Osun State. We don’t want anything that will tamper with the peace we are enjoying in the state.”
Earlier, the protesting land owners had stormed the Osun State Government Secretariat, Abere where they urged the state government under the administration of Ademola Adeleke and President Bola Tinubu to intervene and call the Nigerian Army to order over the court judgment.
Addressing journalists, the Chairman of the Kelebe-Omu land owners association, Amodu Akanbi lamented the flagrant disregard for the court judgment by the Nigeria Army.
He revealed that the Nigerian Army was selling off their land to individuals and was not using it for the purpose for which the land was leased from the land owners.
