A Yoruba organisation, Think Yoruba First (TYF), has accused the Igbos of trying to erase Yoruba ethnicity with their claims of being the original owners of Ile Ife.

MyNigeria recalled that the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos chapter, Solomon Ogbonna, in 2019, said Oduduwa, revered by Yoruba people, was actually an Igbo prince.

He said, “Odudunwa (Last born), later called Oduduwa was an Igbo Prince who occupied Ile-Ife, but the Yoruba saw him as a god because he was very powerful and had magical powers. “The Yorubas learnt and spoke Igbo language then and that is the reason for the similarity between Igbo and Yoruba language.”

Other recent literatures by Igbo people have also claimed ownership of Ile Ife, stating that Yoruba people displaced them.

However, speaking during a press conference, TYF spokesperson Olu Lewis dismissed the claims, adding that nothing linked Yoruba and Igbo people until 1920.

He said, "Obatala had no links with Igbos, neither his descendants nor his relatives had any link with Igbos; that is a fact. that our children must grow up to learn. Oduduwa had no link with Igbos, nor did Oranmiyan, who more or less expanded the territory.

"There is no history of Igbos in Ile Ife ancestrally. In fact, the Igbos are not even Yoruboid; you can have a look at their language. There's no link at all. In fact, we never even interacted before the 1920s. So, it is preposterous to even suggest that Ile-Ife belonged to them. They were never there, their ancestors were never there, and when you target Ile Ife, what you are doing is ethnic erasure, that's what they are trying to do, because that is the source of everyone one of us.

"If you begin to say that Ile Ife is ancestrally yours, what you are trying to say is that we have been living a lie. That cannot stand. I cannot allow my children to grow up to read that. We will do everything necessary to resist this, and make sure that our descendants do not... because what they are trying to do is more or less deplete the self-esteem of Yorubas, and that cannot happen. The moment they do that, it will be very easy to run you over in your territory. This is why this had to be done."