The Enogie of Oye-Iyanomo village in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Alfred Erhauyi Osagie, has debunked the report that he is the one causing problems in the community and also clarified issues surrounding the barricade made across the illegal road created by some persons from Iyanomo.
Speaking on behalf of Enogie Alfred Erhauyi Osagie, his counsel, Daniel Noah Osa-Ogbegie Esq., made clarification on the road said to have been barricaded by some people from Iyanomo and other issues that were published.
He said the barricade was put there in the first place because the road itself is not an approved road; it was mischievously created to breach the security of the community.
He noted that “everyone in the community has a responsibility to ensure the security of its community, the direct access road that leads into the community is what every indigene that means well for the community uses. But these characters who want to be mischievous for the purpose of breaching the security of the community created an obscure road, which hitherto was a path way they expanded to become a road for vehicular movement so that they can use that to bypass the main road that leads into the community.”
He further said that when they saw it has created security breach for the community and as the head in the community the Enogie will be held responsible and accountable for security lapses and breaches, a meeting was held to find out who created the road but nobody owned up and the only way to go about it was to ensure nobody crosses the road, and it was barricaded.
The counsel subsequently said that the Enogie is trying to bring peace and harmony to the community by ensuring there is security, he did not say he owns the land, he is holding the land on behalf of the Oba of Benin.
On autonomy, the counsel said some characters in the community are trying to use the issue of autonomy to now want to begin to grab land that they do not have titles of. He pointed out that these lands they want to be selling or that they are already selling, can they tell the people how they came about them, who gave them tittles to the lands they are selling and under what authority; or did they get authority from the Oba to administer those lands, did they get the authority from the governor of the state to administer these lands; was the land alienated to them for them to now be selling, which is what is called land grabbing. The issue is also before the Edo State Private Property Committee, hhe said.
Continuing, the counsel to the Enogie informed that Oye-Iyanomo is one indivisible community; the Enogie was installed by the Oba of Benin in 2022 as the Enogie of Oye-Iyanomo. He noted also that there is nothing like the designation of acting Odionwere under the Benin Native Law and Customs, and since 2015 they have been having acting Odionwere and not substantive Odionwere, they should go to the palace that they want their own Odionwere.
He however restated that Oye-Iyanomo is one indivisible community and people have been like that from time immemorial and have been living in peace, noting that the only reason these characters are creating problems in the community is for land grabbing and not that the Enogie is giving them any problem. It is just that these characters want to sell land and the Enogie did not agree to it because there are cultural practices and procedures for allocation of land.
“Enogie cannot sit down there and allow this to happen being the head of the village, hence the continuous attack on him by these characters,” he said.
