Ekiti Community Accuses Monarch Of Fuelling Crisis |The Source

By Ayodele Oni

Indigenes of Ire community, Ekiti state, have blamed the traditional ruler of the community for the mayhem which claimed three lives including a newly weeded pregnant woman early in the week.

The pregnant woman, that got married less than a year ago, was a rice merchant and was on her way to meet her customers when she was hit by stray bullets fired by the police.

Youths in the community had embarked on a bloody protest over the cancellation of this year’s annual celebration of Ogun festival.

The traditional ruler, Oba Bobade Adeleke, had to be fretted out of the town following an attack of his palace where vehicles and other valuables were destroyed.

As the protest escalated on Tuesday, soldiers were deployed to complement efforts of other security agents, turning the community to a ghost of itself.

Police claimed that some miscreants had hijacked the protest, but some  indigenes of the town insisted that the protest was long overdue as a result of the alleged high handedness of the traditional ruler.

According to those that spoke on the incident, the cancellation of the world acclaimed Ogun festival was just the last straw as the people have been looking for an opportunity to react to some of the hard posture of the monarch.

Allegations against the monarch include conversion of some traditional antiquities to personal use, taking over of the entire community land on which he demands for royalty from investors, and imposition of his friends as quarter heads.

“What happened at Ogun Onire festival this year was a transfer of aggression on behalf of the people to Onire .

“Out of the five quarters in Ire Ekiti there is no single quarter that the Kabiyesi is not having running battle. In Keleju quarter, the Community has been without light for the past five years and there is a transformer that is at the  Kabiyesi quarter which he refused to release for the people.

Already, the state Police Command has declared wanted 15 persons in connection with the incident, while one person has been arrested.