Imminent war in Ibeju-Lekki as leaders accuse Onibeju, Lagos commissioner of plot to create another village

The peace in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State may be shattered soon, no thanks to an alleged plot by the paramount ruler of the community, Oba Olusegun Salami, and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Salawu Folami, to create a new village, Okegun-Ladeseso, in the area.
Leaders of Okegun-Odofin in Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area have threatened that if the move was not stopped, they would not guarantee peace in the area.
They also said that there was a plot by the two leaders, to use an impostor, one Mufutau Olamiji, a former Personal Assistant to the monarch, who already parades himself as the Baale of Okegun Ladeseso, to be presented as the new monarch of the community.
By that move, the Baale of Okegun Odofin, Chief Ismaila Ogunkoya, who has been the head of the community since 2008, would be toppled.
It was learned that problem started in the area in 2013 when Olamiji requested for a piece of land in the community through the monarch.
The appeal was immediately granted by Ogunkoya.
Olamiji, who they claimed does not hail from their community, built a house on the land, close to the Okegun-Odofin water front and gradually established a palace in the area.
He was accused of unilaterally naming the area Okegun-Ladeseso.
An elder brother of Ogunkoya, Chief Shamsudeen Ogunkoya, said there was no area in their community known as Okegun-Ladeseso and insisted that “Olamiji is not a member of the community”.  
He said: “My brother, who is the Baale of this community, has a cordial relationship with the Oba and has contributed immensely to the well being of this community. I am surprised that the Oba could plot with certain people to instal and force another person against my brother. To the best of my knowledge, if the plot is not checked immediately, the consequences  might be disastrous.”
The head of the Ogunkoya family, Alhaji Wasiu Ogunkoya, also accused the Oba and Folami as being behind the crisis.
He said that the coming of Olamiji was the root of the crisis.
“We made several payments to the Onibeju of Ibeju land whenever any land is sold as a way of paying homage to paramount ruler within the Ibeju Lekki Community.”
“The matter has reached the Lagos State House of Assembly  but nothing has come out of it”, he said.
Therefore, he pleaded with the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to urgently intervene in the  crisis before it escalates.
The community has also written a petition to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs  since June 17, 2016, through a lawyer.   
Oba Salami, who admitted that the tussle was over the sale of land and control of the waterfront, said the  Ogunkoyas were being selfish and greedy.
He said that he installed and crowned both Ogunkoya and Olamiji but in different zones. He explained that both of them wrote application for upgrading of their positions from Baale to Oba, which he was still working on.
“Again, they both have the right to be upgraded to Oba and they have paid the necessary dues. It is also possible for both of them to become Oba in their respective zones. One thing remains certain, I am their father,” he said.  
Oba Salami insisted that Olamiji is from the Aladeseso family in the area, who are the first occupants of the land. 
Olamiji claimed that it was the Ogunkoyas that were causing trouble in the communities. He said they framed him up, got him arrested and detained him at Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
He said that his approval from the Lagos State Government was a matter of whom you know. “It is who you know in government. I did nothing to stop his paper but I actually used whom I know to push forward my paper,” he said.
To Oba Salami, it was wrong to link the commissioner to the crisis because “the crisis predates his appointment”.