Oil-rich boundary island: Ogun, Ondo in fresh battle

Crude oil

Tensions have escalated between Ogun and Ondo states over the ownership of Eba Island, an oil-rich territory in the South-West, following President Bola Tinubu’s approval of drilling activities at an abandoned oil well on the island.

The Ogun State Government reaffirmed its territorial claim over Eba Island, located in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area, dismissing Ondo State’s competing assertions as misleading and potentially inflammatory.

In a statement on Sunday, Governor Dapo Abiodun’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said the island falls squarely within Ogun State based on historical, legal, and administrative records.

Tensions have flared between Ogun and Ondo states over Eba Island, a coastal territory in the South-West, recently identified as hosting hydrocarbon resources.

Ogun described recent claims by Ondo State as misleading and capable of provoking avoidable communal tension.

Akinmade said, “The Eba Island, where the approved oil well is located, falls squarely within Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State. Boundaries between states and local governments in Nigeria are constitutionally defined and properly documented by the National Boundary Commission. Official boundary maps and records clearly situate Eba Island within Ogun State.”

According to Akinmade, Eba is a long-established community within Ogun Waterside, whose status predates Nigeria’s independence and has remained unchanged through successive political and administrative reorganisations, including the 1976 state creation exercise that carved Ogun State out of the former Western State. Punch