Land Dispute: Court Grants Ipee Community Right to Appeal Judgment

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, presided over by Justice Y. A. Dikko, has granted the application of the Ipee community to appeal against the judgment of a High Court in Offa, which recently declared that Pooro area or Odo Pooro belongs to the Offa community.

The ruling, which was delivered last week, also granted the prayer of the Ipee community to deem the Notice of Appeal already filed on July 29, 2025, against the judgmentof Offa High Court as properly filed, and served on all the respondents.

The judgment by the court also ordered a stay of execution of the judgment of the Offa High Court pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.

The court  further restrained the respondents, their agent, privilege, or any other person or persons claiming through them from further laying claims to the land at Odo Pooro area, Imolumo, and Akoye pending the hearing and determination of the appeal filedby Ipee Community.

The Ipee community in the Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State had recently called on the state Governor, AbdulRahman AbduRasaq, to caution the Offa community, which they said laid claims to a land at Ile Poro belonging to them.

Ipee Community said Offa is falsely laying claim to the land, saying it belongs to some family compounds in Offa, warning that the governor’s urgent intervention will lead to the avoidance of chaos between the two communities.

It would be recalled that the proposed siting of a Federal Government Housing Estate in Offa was approved, with the location for the project at Ile Poro in the Egunkara Area, but the Ipee community said the location site falls into its territory.

“The claim that the land at Poro belongs to some families compound in Offa was fabricated, unfounded, and has no merit, and the claim was premised on deliberate misrepresentation/misunderstanding of the court judgment referred to in the bulletin. The land at Poro has an age-long history associated with and cherished by the Ipee people.

“The IPU acknowledges the instances where the Ipee community has, in the interest of peaceful coexistence, made concessions regarding land to the Offa community. We hope that these gestures are recognised as a commitment to good neighbourliness and not weaknesses.

“We urge the leadership of the ODU, and any individual or families from Offa,, to cease making claims to Ile Poro or any other land within Ipee,” the community stated.

Meanwhile, the President of Ipee Progressive Union, Mr. Simeon Ayodele Ogunshola, has joined the Asiwaju of Ipee, Chief Olabode Afolayan, to congratulate the Onipee of Ipee, Oba Muftau Adebayo Lawal, on the landslide victory won at the Kwara State High Court in GRA Ilorin, which granted the request of Ipee Community to challenge the ceding of its land to the Offa community at the Court of Appeal.

A statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of Ipee Progressive Union, Ibraheem Oluwatoyin, equally appreciated the revered legal luminary, Omokayode Dada (SAN), and his team for standing firmly to ensure that justice is served in their favour.