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...
The Christian Association of Nigeria in Oyo town has protested against the role allegedly being played by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, in an ongoing land tussle between the association and other parties in the town. The Christian body alleged that Oba Adeyemi had sold parts of its 96 plots of land at Ayetoro to some investors. Following several aborted proposed meeting with the monarch by the Oyo town chapter of CAN, the religious body said the absence of Alaafin from the dialogue was deliberate. An executive member of the Oyo Zone CAN, Reverend Femi Afolabi, told The PUNCH on Wednesday that in view of the monarch’s attitude, the Christian association took to the street in Oyo town in protest against his roles in the land tussle. Afolabi, who is the head of Zonal Issues in the Oyo Zone CAN, said the matter got to a head when some of its members who were on inspection of the property were attacked by some hoodlums who were believed to be land grabbers. Oyo CAN, which claimed to have procured the land from the former Oyo Local Government Council Area before the breaking of the old council into four in the 90s, alleged that the monarch “surreptitiously sold some patch of the property to other parties” without being authorised to do so. Afolabi said, “On Sunday, the 5th of July, the entire body of Christ in Oyo land, comprising Afijio, Oyo East and West and Atiba local government areas, marched from Isokun Baptist Church to CAN land in Ayetoro scheme. We came back through the palace to Isokun. The protest match is predicated on the fact that the land belongs to CAN.