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 Yoruba Appraisal Forum has postponed its `Anti Secession Agitations’ rally expected to hold at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Lagos State on Friday.
The organisers said the rally was postponed after police intervention and a need to curb COVID-19 spread.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) in Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Odumosun, in a statement after meeting with Animashaun on Thursday at the command’s headquarters, said that any rally or mass gathering in any part of the state would expose the participants and innocent residents to traffic problems, health hazards and avoidable security infractions.
The YAF national coordinator, Chief Adesina Animashaun, made this known on Friday.
He said, “I met with the CP on Thursday afternoon and the reasons he gave for us to postpone the really are ideal.
“The CP also asked me to sign an undertaking to call off the rally, walk to forestall gridlock, new wave of COVID-19, among others, which I did.
“As a law-abiding citizen, I realised that the reasons given by the CP are ideal.
“However, our sensitisation about the need for one Nigeria is not something we push under the carpet. The rally will eventually hold at a later date that we will decide.”
The PUNCH had reported that personnel of the Lagos State Police Command on Friday surrounded the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Lagos State over a planned anti-Yoruba nation rally by the Yoruba Appraisal Forum.
The police had said that intelligence revealed that the group was mobilising for a mega rally in the state on Friday despite the arrest of some agitators at the July 3 rally which took place at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota.
The police command, in a statement issued and made available to reporters on Thursday evening, urged parents and guardians to warn their children and ward against such activities in the state.
The statement titled, ‘Re: Yoruba Appraisal Forum’s Rally: Police Ban Rally, Warn Organizers To Steer Clear Of Lagos’ was issued by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi.
“The Police and other security agencies in the state have been on red alert to prevent any unlawful rally and lawlessness in any part of the state, while parents and guardians are urged to warn their children and wards not to involve themselves in any such activity which may portend danger to the state.
“The ugly incident recorded at the Oodua Republic Rally of 3rd July, 2021, at the same area of Ojota, Lagos State, is still fresh in our memories, let alone the massive destruction of lives and properties experienced during the October 2020 End SARS violent protest in Lagos State,” part of the statement read.
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