Let’s Prevent A Repeat Of 1975 Army-Civilian Clash In Epe-Iraye

The National Assembly would be involved in the Nigerian Army and the Iraye Community Land Saga, according to Hon. Wale Raji.
The Honorable of Epe Federal Constituency made this known while addressing newsmen in Iraye, on Sunday.
Mr. Gbenga Ibrahim, one of the victims of the clash likens the incident as a warning of 1975 conflict which he describes as a war between soldiers and the civilians.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Hon. Wale Raji, the representative for Epe Federal Constituency in Lagos State, has called for the intervention of the National Assembly in the ongoing land dispute between the Nigerian Army and the Iraye Community in Epe Division.

The conflict started due to the Army’s alleged encroachment on the community’s lands, some of the lands which had buildings they marked for demolition afterwards.

Raji has urged both parties to maintain the status quo while the National Assembly steps in to resolve the matter.

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Wale Raji also expressed his concern over the possibility of a repeat of the Epe community clash with the Nigerian Army in 1975 and has pledged to bring the matter before the National Assembly to find a peaceful resolution.

“I appeal to both parties, the Nigeria Army and Iraye residents to maintain status quo while the National Assembly intervenes to ensure peaceful coexistence of all parties.

“I do not want a repeat of the Epe community clash with Nigeria Army in 1975 again. Therefore, all parties involved should sheath their swords as the matter will be settled in earnest,” he said.

Chief Odesegun Anwoju, the Baale of Iraye, has praised Hon. Raji for his quick response to the issue. He has called on the Nigerian Army to halt their encroachment and maintain the lands given to them by the community.

“I appreciate our foremost and listening honorable for giving the needed attention to community issues,” he said.

Similarly, Chief Kazeem Anwoju, a community leader, has highlighted the existence of documents that outline the fallout of the land given to the Nigerian Army in the Iraye neighborhood.

He has appealed to both the federal and state government to provide a lasting solution to the land issues before they escalate.

A youth leader in the community, Mr. Gbenga Ibrahim, has shared his ordeal with the Nigerian Army, describing how he and other residents were beaten, tortured and intimidated while working on a construction project on their land. He has appealed to the government to intervene urgently to prevent the situation from escalating into a community clash.

“We were tortured, beaten, and molested by the Nigerian Army. They refrained and intimidated us from coming to the land area again, adding that the lands belong to Nigerian Army.

“I appeal to the government to intervene as a matter of urgency before it resulted into community clashes,” he said.

Mr. Gbenga Ibrahim in his statement, while explaining the brutality the Nigerian army placed the Iyare civilians through, revealed how they; Ibrahim included, were forced to lie down on the hot tar within the army barracks.

The victim also exposed how a lot of the community members who were caught by the army were put through physical punishments such as clearing acres of land to determine what their resolution would amount to in the end.

Mr. Ibrahim, being a firsthand witness of the ordeal, likened the incident to a war which the army waged on civilians of the community.

The Epe-Iraye resident explained through his frustrations that there were civilized ways which the incident could have been better handled between the Nigerian army and the civilians of the Iraye community.

Echoing the Baale, Chief Odesegun Anwoju and Mr. Kazeem Anwoju’s statement, Mr. Gbenga Ibrahim acknowledged the whole incident could have been prevented by a simple dialogue and not brute force and show of power to intimidate residents of the community, who also are citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who the army are bound to be protecting.

One notable takeout from the quotes gotten from the residents of Iraye community was a point they kept stressing; the lands which the army encroached on were far from what the Federal government had allocated to the army, and if they needed more, it should have been a topic that should be dialogued on with the community.

Hon. Raji’s intervention aims to find a peaceful resolution to the land dispute between the Nigerian Army and the Iraye Community in Epe Division as the politician strives to tackle the issue before history repeats itself.

In order to make room for the extension of the Lagos State railway project, the Nigerian Army moved some of its units and formations from Yaba to Epe in 2019. This move may be seen as the beginning of the present conflict between soldiers and civilians of Epe.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Yusufu Buratai, first stated that the relocation of the 81 Division Base Ordinance Depot, printing press, and tailoring factory would increase military presence and security in the region.

Iraye-Oke, one of the villages that historically made up Epe, is governed by the Eredo LCDA.

Soldiers first settled in Epe in 1970 and erected barracks there decades ago. In 1975, after a conflict with people of the community, the troops evacuated Epe and set up camp in barracks on the campus of LASU.