Tensions are rising in Ore, a town in the Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, as royal families and community leaders accuse the Abodi of Ikaleland, Oba George Babatunde Faduyile, of attempting to interfere in the selection of a new traditional ruler. A public statement released in Akure by High Chief Samuel Adesanlu, representing the Dero Royal House, described the alleged move as unlawful and a violation of local customs and chieftaincy laws.
The vacant Olore of Ore stool, which became open in August 2022 after the death of Oba Johnson Olatomide from the Akintimehin Ruling House, is expected to be filled by one of the town’s three recognized ruling houses: Orunsero, Akintimehin, or Dero. According to the Justice Ajama Chieftaincy Declaration, these houses are the only legitimate families eligible to produce a monarch for the town. None of them have ties to Ikale.
The royal houses say they are aware of a letter reportedly sent by Oba Faduyile to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Deputy Governor Olayide Adelami, seeking to involve the Ikale Central District in talks about the vacant stool. They maintain that this move is outside the jurisdiction of the Abodi of Ikale and warn that no such authority exists in the Olore Chieftaincy Declaration to justify external involvement.
Community leaders strongly emphasized that there is no legal ruling granting ownership or control of Ore land to the Ikale people. They describe any attempt by outside monarchs or chiefs to install a traditional ruler in Ore as an act of encroachment that will be firmly resisted by the town’s people.
They called on government officials to uphold the existing legal and traditional frameworks and prevent any actions that could create conflict or disrupt the peace in the community.
