land

Land Dispute between Emure and Ise Ekiti and factors that enhance it

          Market or marketing was one of the means by which Ise Ekiti relates with her neighbours in the pre-colonial times and even up to the present the method market cycling was very common between Ise Ekiti and some of her immediate neighbours and Ise towns. The towns around the community arrange their market days so that it will not fall into the same day with the nearest towns, so as to open up the opportunity of other people outside each town to participate in each other’s market. For instance, Afolu, Ogbese, Ogbontioro etc. were good example of this market structure and this had made commodities and service from one town to be available in other towns thus, through this market structure, many issues that ought to have led to open conflict between these towns were amicably resolved.³

          The desire to access goods that cannot be manufacture locally gave birth to long distance trade. According to Professor Femi Fajewonyomi, there was a particular Madam Babalola that I knew who was a trader in the pre-colonial time in Ise Ekiti. She averred that many indigenizes of the town among whom she was one did carry their trade as far as Benin and Sapele in the present Edo and Delta state respectively.⁴ The items of trade with the Benin and Sapele include from Ise-Ekiti, Iro which Ise trader got from Ojbese-Ise and locust beans were taken to Benin and Sapele for sale while traders from Ise will buy mat and sometimes fishes to Ise-Ekiti.⁵ Other items of trade between Ise and Emure traders with other communities include Kolanut, Ogiri and palm Kernel to the people of Afolu-Ise while Ise traders would buy lens and yam from them.⁶

Equally, the traders from Emure would come to Ise to buy palm oil, Garri etc. While traders from Ise would carry other goods they need to sell to the popular Oray market where buyers all over Ise and beyond would be able to buy their commodities. In additional, Emure was a good trade partner to Ise Ekiti. Traders from Ise sell Kolanut and locust beans to Emure people while Ise people also got their mud pot which could not be made locally from, Ikere, Agbado etc. Thus, through trade Ise relates with Emure and other towns.⁷ 

          Another means of inter-group relation between Ise Ekiti and Emure was the activities of the Hunters who search for games outside the boundary of Ise-Ekiti to the nearby towns which eventually led to friendly relations. There were many examples of hunters but one example will be made reference to here. According to Chief Ikori Esan, his forefathers were hunters and they were known as Balogun, the last Balogun was called Balogun Ijatuyi who happened to be friend to the Elemure of Emure who was equally a hunter.⁸ They do meet for games in a forest called Igbo Odiri a place presently called Kajola in Emure at the end of the day when enough games had been caught, the game would be taken to the palace of Elemure where one of the wives of the Elemure would be assigned to prepare the meat. Afterwards, the meats would be shared between Balogun Ijatuyi and Elemure. After the whole exercise, Balogun would spend some days with Elemure his friend and later returned to Ise-Ekiti.⁹

          As time went by, on the frequent visit of Balogun Ijatuyi to the palace of Elemure, he impregnated one of the princesses in the palace and that led to Balogun’s decision to boycott his going to Igbo Odiri to hunt with Elemure, because of the embarrassment he thought his action would earn him. After sometimes he decided to visit the forest and he eventually found Elemure hunting games, to his surprise, Elemure embraced him and asked him why he had stayed away so long, Balogun tried to explain what had happened between him and his (Elemure) daughter but Elemure replied that should not separate or end their friendship but supposed to strengthen it the more.¹⁰

The princess in question put to bed a baby boy, the boy was later sent to Balogun Ijatuyi in Ise Ekiti with beads and other royal insignia and a chieftaincy title was conferred on him as the Ikor of Ise Ekiti that set him in the position of producing the beads of to all who will be chiefs in Ise Ekiti. From that time up to this present day, the people in the family of Ikori recognized their ties with the Elemure of Emure.¹¹ 

Furthermore, marriage was a means of inter-group relation between Ise and Emure Ekiti, the example of Elemure’s family and the Ikori’s family in Ise-Ekiti cited above is a good one. Also there was an evidence of such marriage ties between Oba Arinjale and the Elemure of Emure. In addition the marriage ties between both Kings were to foster unfitted trade relations between the two towns and to create friendly co-habitation between the towns.¹² 

Culturally, there were evidence of the people of Ise Ekiti and other towns in Ise such as Afolu, Kajola Owode, Uso, Agbadu that these towns used to attend festival at Emure, though such visits were purely friendly as it reminded the people Ise and Emure of their coming from the same ancestry or ancestral home of Ile-Ife. This may have been in their subconscious and the need relate without resorting to use of war or violence as they were family.¹³ 

The mode of inter-group relations between Ise Ekiti and her neighbours had not been always peaceful as there were cases of wars and violence. For instance, the Oba Ise Ekiti and Emure conflict during the reign of Elemure Ogunyemi and the Ogedengbe and Ise Ekiti war. During the reign of Oba Aweloye (1887 – 1919) in Ise Ekiti, the then Oba Ogunyemi of Emure declared war on Ise Ekiti. When Oba Aweloye heard that Elemure Ogunyemi was approaching the community, he instructed his people to meet the war mongers with a lot of drumming and dancing. They were singing thus; “Ogun maij Ise o Eewo Ife o ee’’ meaning Ise Ekiti was never invaded, it is forbidden…etc. The reason for this action is yet unknown. However there would be a supernatural power behind the singing and dancing for the people of Ise in those days. Thus they were doing until they finally came into contact with the Oba Ogunyemi and his troops.¹⁴

Oba Ogunyemi stood astonished at seeing the Arinjale and his people singing and dancing instead of being armed with guns, cutlass, knives, bows and arrows, spears and other instruments of war. He asked Arinjale why they took to all this Oba Aweloye of Ise Ekiti replied that Ise and Emure were of the same descent from Ile-Ife and therefore there should be no sort of discord that would lead to war or conflict between the two brother towns. When the people of Emure heard this nostalgic saying, observing that it would be an attempt to commit fratricide, they went back home frustrated and mortified. The action displayed by the people of Ise Ekiti here could display by the people of Ise Ekiti could be further explained as a military strategy.¹⁵

Another inter-group relation between Ise and Emure Ekiti could be seen in the area of land dispute. According to Samuel Johnson and S. A. Akintoye, after the death of Oduduwa, his Children left Ile-Ife to found new towns in the geographical area now known as Yorubaland. Those of them who came to the present Ekiti State lorded it over the aboriginal inhabitants in most cases by force of arms, which were always strategically planned and executed. As soon as they settled down in their new found lands, they embarked on the expansion of their territories by exerting some measure of control over the weaker neighbours and little by little, whittled down completely the authority of the original village heads.¹⁶ 

Ise was not exempt from this style of territorial seizure and occupation before the advent of the team from Okeluse, there were a number of potato settlement, scattered over the land area known as Ise, these were Ukere, Uliji, Upata, Ijui, Omuna, Ilugbo, Ikeun, Oyira, Loroko, Ese and Ose. Emure came later to seek land for occupation from Ise people. There original settlement was Igbo Owa, village between Akure and Owo. Hitherto, the position of Emure in history remains extremely controversial.¹⁷ However; it is believed that as a result of an invasion by some people from the North Emure move from its original settlement to get closer to Ise for protection. She forget some kind of relationship with Ise that almost made it appear as if they were fusing with Ise. Ibadan and Ogedengbe war developed and most of Ise villages were taken. Emure remained the most tangible village that was controlled by Ise until about 1929.¹⁸

          Ise apparently was very powerful and thus disregarded the likes and dislikes of all the neighbours. They offended Emure which they got Ibadan to destroy. Oba Aweloye was a brave and wise Oba, when he noticed that the Elemure was not present at Odo-Ofin and at Oke-Imo he acts as a mouthpiece for him, the Arinjale for a time became more known than the Elemure. After the death of Aweloye, Oba Oladimeji ascended the throne and since then, no Arinjale was in agreement with the Elemure.¹⁹ He accused the Elemure of pretending to be an Ekiti Oba, whereas he had no certificate and consequently, could not have land. But the Elemure succeeded in 1929 in producing the necessary government gazette and thereby won the case.²⁰ 

Apparently, Oguntuyi did not have enough information about the relationship between Ise and Emure; indeed it was true that the struggle for self-determination by Emure was long drawn. This is natural and was not unexpected. The struggle eventually led to court again and the case was eventually decided in favour of Ise.²¹ The bone of contention was the ownership of the land area occupied by Emure. Ise insisted that the land belong to her and gave historical reason in support of her claim of ownership. According to the Arinjale, the people of Emure came originally from Oba-Ile, Akure from where they migrated to Igbo Oseri (or igbo Owa) near Emure-Ile and from there to the present site. Over the years the people of Emure had confirmed Arinjale’s claim.²² 

Oguntuyi pointed out that record from the diary of Elemure Oba Ogunleye Arosoye (1927-1931) on the chronological tree ascension to the Elemure stool showed that the people of Emure moved to the present site from Igbo-Owa c. 1770 when Oba Odunlesiojo was the Elemure. He was succeeded by Oba Ogunrajaboja Adumori who reigned from 1782 to 1826. In their submission to the Morgan Chieftaincy Review Commission in 1979, the Abenimota Rulmy House of Emure maintained that Elemure Abenimota reigned at Igbo-Owa between 300 and 500 years ago and that Abenimota was the Elemure who brought the people to the present site of Emure-Ekiti. Furthermore, they submitted that Abenimota had that it is part of the traditional rites that a new Elemure has to prostrate three times by the ‘Aerefe’ stone and say my father Abenimota I salute you.²³ 

For the occupation of the present site they sought and obtained the consent of the Arinjale of Ise in conformity with Yoruba tradition, the people of Emure paid Ishakole (a kind of royalty) for the Arinjale for the occupation of his land. This practice went on for many years without the people raising their eye brows. As would be expected, it came to a point when the people of Emure felt that the practice should stop. At the same time, the people of Ise were already complaining that Emure had exceeded the boundary of the land area given to her citizens for farming in particular, it was discovered that the people of Emure were already planting cash crops like Cocoa and Kolanut trees on Ise land. They were reported skirmishes at different farm lands along the Ise-Emure boundary.²⁴ 

This problem of land dispute came to a head when a retired police from Emure Chief Sanni Basorun destroyed the young Cocao plantation belonging to Chief Elejoka, one of the paramount Ise chiefs. Chief Sanni went ahead to institute a suit in court for himself and on behalf of the people of Emure against Messrs Peter Odusina (from Emure), Ogale, Agidigbi and Omusin. It is indeed painful to observe that Chief Sanni Bashorun had no farmland not to talk of any plantation.²⁵ Three principal witness gave evidence in favour of the defendants , the first was the Olowo of Owo who testified that his town shared a boundary with Ise at Eporo and that the people of Emure-Ijaloke moved to the present site from Emure-Ile a town under his jurisdiction, the second principal witness was the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti who confirmed that his town shared a boundary with Ise somewhere on the way to Agbado-Ekiti and Ijan Ekiti the third key witness was the Baale of Uso who attested to the fact that Ise and Uso share the same boundary at Agbe, after settlement near Uso.²⁶  

The incontrovertible evidence of these key witnesses led to the determination of the case in favour of the Arinjale of Ise, the plaintiff that is Emure was fined five pounds, five shillings. Of course, the lower court decision was already given but an appeal was made to the upper court with Mr Jackson as judge while upholding the decision of the lower court, Jackson fined Emure twenty-one pounds with the order that Emure should not exceed the land area previously conceded to her by Ise. In addition the court empowered the Arinjale to collect Ishakole in case any person from Emure decided to farm elsewhere outside the existing boundary.²⁷ Chief Sanni Bashorun, the protagonist of this land dispute between Ise and Emure Ekiti was still not satisfied and he decided to appeal to the highest court of appeal (WACA) holding in Lagos the case was finally disposed of off on Friday 24 April 1942 WACA upheld the decision of the lower courts. The plaintiff was fined for the third time and made to pay a sum of eighty-four pounds to the Arinjale of Ise. Furthermore, Ise was granted the right to hunt without let or hindrance in the land area previously conceded to Emure.²⁸ 

It is now about 60 years since the resolutions of the land dispute between Ise and Emure but the bitterness lingers on, particularly on the Emure side one wonders what percentage of the adults in both towns today knows the details of what transpired. Sometimes the hatred of Ise by Emure is borne out of visceral beliefs and attitudes.