Tension Over Gateway Cargo Airport Naming: Iperu Indigenes Demand Correction, Cite Land Ownership and Court Ruling

Tension Over Gateway Cargo Airport Naming: Iperu Indigenes Demand Correction, Cite Land Ownership and Court Ruling

Habeeb Ibrahim 

Fresh tension has emerged in Remo land following growing outrage by Iperu indigenes over the misnaming of the Gateway International Cargo Airport as being located in Ilishan instead of Iperu. The controversy has sparked strong responses from Iperu leaders and youth groups who insist that the airport sits predominantly on Iperu soil.

In a public statement released on Thursday, Otunba Taiwo Oyebanjo, President of the Iperu Development Association (IDA), urged Iperu youths and concerned stakeholders to remain calm, assuring them that an emergency meeting involving all Iperu Obas, youth leaders, government officials, and landowning families would be held to address the matter decisively.

The meeting is scheduled for Saturday, May 24, 2025, at 9:00 AM at the Alaperu's Palace, with a communique to be issued afterward. Otunba Oyebanjo encouraged continued patience and restraint:
"Let us await the outcome of the emergency meeting being convened by the Alaperu Regency Council, all Obas in Iperu, and in collaboration with the Iperu Development Association. Let’s remain calm and continue to practice patience," he said.

The controversy intensified after a recent memo from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) reportedly referenced the airport's location as Ilishan, a move Iperu indigenes described as factually and historically inaccurate.

Backing the IDA’s position, a press release from Comrade Azeez Akinbowale, representing the Iperu Youth Development Association, called out what he termed “unprofessional misinformation” being spread by some individuals, including a media aide to the Ogun State Governor.

"This is a big blow on our faces after we have sacrificed all our land toward this developmental project… now credited to a community that doesn't have up to 15% of land acquired for the project," Akinbowale lamented.

He referenced a 2011 judgment in suit number HCS/123/2002 – Ope Osu & others Vs Jonathan Famoriyo & others – delivered by Hon. Justice N.I. Saula of the Ogun State High Court, which affirmed that the airport land belongs to the Orubo community in Iperu.

According to Akinbowale, the land acquired for the Gateway Cargo Airport spans several areas within Iperu, including Isalu, Iragbon, Aromamu, and Ugboti Maja, with boundary extensions towards Ilara and a small section of Ilishan. He claimed that over 85% of the land earmarked for the airport project belongs to Iperu.

The youth leader warned against attempts to rewrite facts and politicize the airport’s location, calling on the Ogun State Government and all media organizations to uphold truth and prevent unnecessary communal strife.

"We encourage the Governor’s media aides to desist from causing havoc or unrest in Iperu-Ilishan relations. The airport should rightly be named after Iperu, which owns the majority of the land," Akinbowale stated.

The Gateway Cargo Airport project, originally conceived during the administration of former Governor Otunba Gbenga Daniel in 2007 and prioritized under current Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun, is seen as a flagship infrastructural investment meant to boost trade and logistics in Ogun State.

As the communities await the outcome of Saturday’s meeting, the call from Iperu remains clear: recognition of historical ownership, correction of public records, and preservation of peace in the region.