Don’t Annex Igbomina Lands for Ilorin Smart City, Community Writes Governor Abdulrazaq

To:
His Excellency, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
Governor of Kwara State
Government House, Ilorin
Kwara State, Nigeria

Strong Protest Against the Unjust Annexation of Igbomina Land Under the False Pretense of the Ilorin Smart City Project

Your Excellency,

I write this letter as a deeply concerned citizen of Kwara State and a proud indigene of Durosoto, Ifelodun Local Government Area, to strongly protest against the ongoing unlawful encroachment and annexation of Igbomina land under the pretense of the so-called Ilorin Smart City Project.

This project is nothing more than a deceptive land grab, designed not for development but to seize Igbomina ancestral lands and place them under the Ilorin Emirate’s control Such an act is a blatant assault on our identity, heritage, and fundamental rights as indigenous landowners.

The Ilorin Smart City Project: A Tool for Dispossession
Your administration has presented the Ilorin Smart City project as a development initiative, but in reality, it is a well-disguised attempt to rob Igbomina communities of their land and autonomy. In my village alone, 19,301 hectares of land are being forcibly taken. This is an outrageous and unacceptable theft of land from one village, let alone the fact that more than 20 Igbomina communities in Ifelodun LGA are facing the same fate.

This is not development – this is land colonization. It is an insult to our people, our history, and our future generations.

*Misuse of the Land Use Act of 1978*
It is deeply troubling that the Land Use Act of 1978 is being misapplied to justify this injustice. The Act does not give the government unlimited power to dispossess indigenous communities of their ancestral lands for projects that serve political or ethnic interests. Land acquisition must be transparent, justified, and beneficial to the people whose land is being taken.

Instead, the Ilorin Smart City project is shrouded in secrecy, deception, and manipulation. We, the Igbomina people, were not consulted, we did not give our consent, and we do not accept this forced land seizure.

The Igbomina People Will Not Be Annexed . It must be made unequivocally clear

We are Igbomina. We are not under Ilorin, and we will never be annexed into the Ilorin Emirate.
Our land is our heritage. It is not for sale, not for confiscation, and not for political expansion.
We reject any attempt to erase our identity through land dispossession.
We are a peaceful people, but we will not stand by while our lands are taken illegally. This is a direct provocation and an act of aggression against the Igbomina people.

Our Demands
We demand the following from your administration:

1 – An immediate halt to the forced annexation of Igbomina lands under the guise of the Ilorin Smart City Project.

2 – A transparent and public review of the entire project, with full participation of affected Igbomina communities.

3 – Respect for the historical boundaries and autonomy of the Igbomina people within Kwara State.

4 – A guarantee that no Igbomina land will be forcefully taken or placed under Ilorin Emirate’s control.

5 – The continued use of “Ilorin” in relation to our land is provocative, as we are not under the Ilorin Emirate and never have been. Any attempt to force such an association upon us is an insult to our identity and an affront to our history.

Conclusion
Your Excellency, this is a defining moment for your administration. Will you be remembered as a governor who upheld justice and protected the rights of all Kwara citizens, or as one who presided over the illegal seizure of indigenous lands?

The choice is yours. But let it be known that we, the Igbomina people, will never surrender our land, our identity, or our freedom.

Sincerely,

Seye Ajagbe
(Durosoto Village)