Stop fomenting trouble, Olugbo descendants warn deposed monarch

By Segun Giwa
Warning
Akure, April 21, 2020 (NAN) The Olugbo descendants in Ondo State, on Tuesday, warned the deposed king of Ugbo, Prince Adebanjo Mafimisebi, to stop causing trouble by laying claim to the ancestral palace at Ude-Ugbo.
The warning was contained in a statement signed by High Chief Soji Aladetan, the Asemonuwon of Ugbo land, on behalf of other ruling families, and made available to newsmen in Akure.
Aladetan accused Mafimisebi of refusing to vacate the palace, even after he had been dethroned by a Supreme Court judgment of Jan. 7, 2007.
According to him, the custom and tradition of Ugbo kingdom dictate that once an Olugbo ceases to be on the throne, either through death or other reasons, his immediate family and personal belongings must be evacuated from the ancestral palace.
“The Olugbo ancestral palace is the property of Oronmaken (Obamakin Osangangan), the progenitor of Olugbo descendants and all the obas who had reigned before.
“It should be noted that the ancestral palace is a common home for all obas who have been reigning in Ugbo since they left lle-lfe for Ode-Ugbo.
“The deposed monarch had vacated the palace since 2007 with the Supreme Court judgment that ousted him and Oba Obateru Akinruntan has been performing the traditional rite of the kingdom since 2009 when he ascended the throne of his forefathers.
”Oba Akinruntan, the present Olugbo, has been using the palace since he emerged as the Olugbo of Ugboland in 2009.
“But Mafimisebi, the dethroned Olugbo, has been acting as an interloper in the palace, which is against the custom and tradition of the kingdom.
“We, the descendants of Olugbo, appeal to the state government, security agents and other concerned authorities to call the dethroned Olugbo to order so as to allow peace to reign in Ugboland,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that there was a violent clash at the palace on April 16, which resulted in the death of a seven-year-old boy, identified as Marvelous Akintubuwa.
Sequel to the clash, the Mafimisebi family petitioned Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and security agencies in the state to intimate them about the development.
In the petition, signed by Idowu Mafimisebi of Mafimisebi, Jayeola and Company, the family complained about how the former monarch was brutalized and his property destroyed.
The solicitor, who narrated the previous disagreement between Mafimisebi and his successor on the land on which the former palace was built, alleged that Oba Akinruntan had insisted that the former Oba and his family should move away from the place.
Akinruntan, however, denied the allegation, saying that as the head of the community, he was a father to all and would, therefore, not do anything that could put the community in crisis. (NAN)
GSD/CHOM/WAS
Edited by Chioma Ugboma and ‘Wale Sadeeq