Following days of destructive clashes, the warring communities of Ibeshe Indigenous Community and Ibeshe Sea Beach Community have agreed to sheath their swords after signing peace accord on use of land for burial within Ibeshe, in Oriade Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.
The signing of the peace accord documents by 20 representatives from each community took place at the council secretariat,in the presence of all stakeholders, including representatives of the Ministry Of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs and various security agencies, during a peace and security meeting convened by the Executive Chairman of Oriade LCDA, Ramotalai Akinlola-Hassan.
This came three weeks after both communities took arms against each other over alleged refusal of some residents of sea beach to obtain permission from the traditional ruler of the community, the Ovori of Ibeshe,Oba Gausu Rasaki, for the interment of a corpse in their settlement.
During the clashes, youths from Ibeshe main town stormed the sea beach settlement, attacked the residents, looted properties, shops and also burnt down many houses and vandalized Ibeshe police station and two popular beach resorts in the area, with many people wounded and one person allegedly killed.
In a statement released yesterday by the council Public Affairs Department, Akinlola-Hassan, while addressing the stakeholders during the meeting, stated that the objective of the meeting is to foster lasting harmony between the Ibeshe Indigenous Community and the Ibeshe Sea Beach Community.
The council chairman added that it has become imperative for the two communities to sheath their swords and allow peace to reign in Ibeshe.
Her words: “Our objective is to ensure that that our children can return to school without fear, and to revive vital economic activities, such as the operation of boat drivers without fear, harassment and molestation from any quarters.
Akinlola-Hassan stated further that the commitment of the two communities to sign the peace accord documents will signal a sincere willingness to pursue reconciliation and cooperation of all stakeholders in the concerted effort to guide against future occurrence of such bitter experience.
She expressed her appreciation to all key stakeholders, including representatives from the Lagos State Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, various security agencies and operatives,as well as the paramount traditional ruler of Ibeshe, Oba Gausu Alani Rasak for their collective determination to uphold peace and security in Ibeshe.
The Police Commander, Area L, Ilashe ,ACP A. Yusuf, while addressing the stakeholders at the meeting, appealed to residents of the two communities to have trust in the security agencies in their effort to ensure peace and normalcy are restored in Ibeshe.
He reminded them that justice can only be served in an atmosphere of peace, and as such appeal to the people to give peace a chance and allow security agencies to conclude their investigation over the unfortunate incident.
The Ovori of Ibeshe kingdom, Oba Gausu Rasak, commended the council chairman, Akinlola-Hassan and all the security agencies for their positive roles and tremendous steps they have taken, in ensuring that peace is restored to the two communities and the people are reunited as one big family.
The traditional ruler also appealed to the two communities to embrace peace and allow government and security agencies to take charge of the situation, as legitimate constituted authority in charge of peace and security in the society.
He assured that, with the signing of the peace accord documents by the two communities, peace will reign supreme in Ibeshe.
