Rival Ogun cities conflict over Eba Island oil rights

After the Atijere neighborhood of Ondo State laid declare to Eba Island, two neighbouring cities within the Ogun Waterside Native Authorities of Ogun State, Ode-Omi and Makun Omi, have laid rival claims to the coastal location reportedly permitted by the Federal Authorities for business crude oil exploration, deepening the custodianship dispute within the oil-rich village.

Ode Omi and Makun Omi are neighbouring communities within the Ogun Waterside Native Authorities Space of Ogun State.

The dispute emerged within the wake of the Federal Authorities’s approval of oil drilling in Ogun’s coastal belt, introduced by the Ogun State Authorities as a part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda geared toward increasing Nigeria’s oil manufacturing frontier.

Preliminary pleasure over the event has given method to pressure following conflicting possession claims by conventional establishments throughout the Ijebu Waterside space, with each Ode Omi and Makun Omi asserting ancestral rights over Eba Island.

In a letter dated January 28, 2026, and addressed to Governor Dapo Abiodun, the Ode Omi Kingdom formally protested claims to Eba Island by Oba Oshobia of Makun Omi, warning that failure to make clear possession might set off communal unrest.

The letter, signed by the Balogun of Ode Omi Kingdom, Prince Shittu Adeyemi, expressed appreciation to each the governor and President Tinubu for facilitating the oil challenge however cautioned that the emergence of rival claims threatens stability within the Ijebu Waterside space.

Based on him, Eba Island has traditionally belonged, since time immemorial, to the Lenuwa ruling homes of the Ode Omi Kingdom, particularly the Ojafoyewa and Ojagbuwa royal households, alongside different historical households of the neighborhood.

Adeyemi stated historic information and settlement patterns present that inhabitants of Eba villages hint their ancestry to Ode Omi and keep household homes within the kingdom, including that former Baales of Makun Omi historically acknowledged the authority of the Lenuwa of Ode Omi.

The neighborhood argued that the current declare by Makun Omi solely surfaced following the oil discovery, describing it as an try to problem long-established custodianship after the business viability of the world turned public data.

“We want to state clearly that Eba Island had belonged to the ruling homes of Lenuwa of the Ode Omi Kingdom and different historical Ode Omi households from Ode Omi communities. Exactly (Ojafoyewa and Ojagbuwa Royal Households) of Lenuwa of Ode Omi Kingdom since time immemorial. Traditionally, they reside in Eba Island and different Eba villages across the boundaries with Irokun City, a neighbouring neighborhood to the Ode Omi Kingdom.

“Within the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, two among the many King Lenuwa of the Ode Omi Kingdom, exactly Lenuwa Ojafoyewas, had been born and introduced up in Eba villages. Previous to set up as a Ruler of Ode Omi, all of the folks of Ebas had had their household homes within the Ode Omi Kingdom from time immemorial.

“The previous Baale of the Makun Omi neighborhood have historically acknowledged the authority of King Lenuwa of the Ode Omi Kingdom. We’re due to this fact involved by current claims by Oba Oshobia of Imakun Omi in a letter dated twenty fourth of January 2026 claiming ancestral possession of Eba Island for crude oil drilling,” the letter partly learn.

Whereas sustaining help for oil exploration, Adeyemi urged the Ogun State Authorities and the Federal Authorities to intervene urgently and arrange an neutral investigation involving related state businesses and the Ogun State Council of Conventional Rulers to confirm historic and customary information. This, he stated, turned essential to keep away from escalation.

“We, the folks of Ode Omi Kingdom, name on President Bola Tinubu and the governor of Ogun State to intervene promptly to forestall communal dysfunction. We request a relaxed, clear investigation by related state authorities and the State Council of Conventional Rulers and Chiefs to confirm historic information and the aboriginal customary observe of the folks of Eba, as a result of it’s clearly documented that each one areas, cities, and villages are owned by each Oba within the Ijebu conventional council from time immemorial.

“Ode Omi is a peaceable neighborhood that maintains good relations with neighbouring communities because the recognised and the Paramount Ruler within the Ijebu Waterside and a foundational king in Ijebu land.

“King Lenuwa of Ode Omi Kingdom, Oba Folailu Adekunle Hassan (Oshotekun II), the Lenuwa, didn’t share Eba Island with any conventional ruler in Ilaje communities in Ondo State; the primary conventional ruler, Oba Amapetu of Mahin Kingdom, then the paramount ruler of Ilaje land, was settled after the reign of the eleventh Lenuwa of Ode Omi Kingdom. Lenuwa has been the primary conventional ruler in the entire Ijebu land after him and his youthful brothers, Repaa, the Liken of Iwopin Kingdom, and Ogbogbonida, who later turned the primary Awujale of Ijebu Ode.

“At the moment, there was no Oba in the entire of Ijebus, together with the coast and inland. Oba Lenuwa will proceed to play a fatherly position; we urge all events to pursue dialogue and authorized avenues somewhat than confrontation so the matter might be resolved amicably and the peace of the world preserved for all,” the letter concluded.

Earlier, Makun Omi insisted that Eba Island falls inside its conventional territory. The place of Makun Omi had earlier been amplified via statements attributed to its monarch, Oba Kazeem Salami, who recommended Tinubu for approving oil exploration in Eba Island, describing the event as a significant breakthrough for coastal communities within the state.

Salami stated the graduation of economic drilling within the space would guarantee inclusivity, create financial alternatives, and empower Makun Omi and neighbouring communities, whereas additionally assuring the federal government of a peaceable setting for oil operations.

Past the intra-Ogun dispute, the oil discovery has additionally drawn in exterior claims, additional complicating the scenario.

The Molokun of Atijere Kingdom within the Ilaje Native Authorities Space of Ondo State, Oba Samuel Adeoye, has publicly declared that Eba Island belongs to Atijere and to not any neighborhood in Ogun State.

Adeoye stated paperwork exist to help Atijere’s declare and warned that his folks would resist any try to hold out oil exploration on the island with out their consent, insisting that the oil-bearing location falls inside Ondo State territory and even contained in the Ondo State Forest Reserve.

Reacting to the claims by the Ondo monarch, the Ogun State Authorities dismissed assertions that Eba Island lies outdoors Ogun, insisting that the oil exploration website is situated throughout the Ogun Waterside Native Authorities Space.

The Particular Adviser to Governor Abiodun on Media and Technique, Kayode Akinmade, stated official maps and long-standing research affirm Eba Island as a part of Ogun State, including that oil exploration falls beneath the unique jurisdiction of the Federal Authorities.

Based on him, if Ondo State had a sound declare to the oil-bearing space, it will have been concerned within the federal course of that led to the approval of drilling.

The competition over Eba Island highlights deeper boundary ambiguities alongside the Ogun–Ondo coastal hall, the place historic migration, fishing settlements, and conventional allegiances have typically blurred administrative boundaries.

With crude oil now at stake, stakeholders concern that unresolved possession claims might delay exploration actions, heighten communal pressure, and complicate federal efforts to convey new oil belongings on stream.

Whereas communities in Ogun’s Ipokia and Ogun West protested the “change” of location from Tongeji to Eba Island, the event has since opened a wider contest involving conventional rulers and communities in Ogun Waterside and the Ilaje Native Authorities Space of Ondo State.