Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
Tajudeen Adetunji Akeju
Riyadh’s police spokesman announced that six Nigeria national who formed a gang were caught and arrested after stealing nearly $0.6 mln (SAR 10 mln) worth of items from exhibitions.The spokesman said the perpetrators were arrested through a Yemeni worker after he was stopped and led to police to the exhibition where he works. They stole the entire contents of that exhibition with estimated value about five million riyals and escaped to an unknown place.The Detection and Criminal Investigation Department of the region took all the procedures to monitor and detect the crimes being committed and formed a highly efficient team under the direct supervision of the Director of Riyadh’s Police. According to the measures taken, the efforts resulted in limiting the suspects to six persons, all of whom were from Nigeria.After intensifying the search for the suspects, all six were caught. The vehicle used in their travels, which turned out to be rented with false identification papers. The keys of the stolen exhibition were also found in the vehicle and the ropes that were used to tie the worker were also found.The spokesman revealed that after confronting them with evidences, they confessed planning and participating in committing the two crimes. They ship the stolen items to Nigeria through the freight offices in Riyadh and Jeddah. Two cargo packages were seized and searched where stolen gold along with a number of new mobile phones were found inside them.