Residents of Alagbagba in Orile Ilawo, Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State have warned the embattled monarch of the community, Alexander McGregor not to visit the area because he is not accepted as their traditional ruler.
Rumours are flying around in Orile Ilawo over an alleged plan by McGregor to visit Alagbagba and its environs.
But the planned visit has generated protest among residents of Ilawo who have threatened to resist the embattled monarch from getting into their communities.
The residents in a protest held on Thursday, maintained the coming of the monarch who is not accepted may lead to breach of public peace in Ilawo.
The residents were armed with placards and several banners placed at strategic entry points to Alagbagba with various inscriptions like; “Please, help us in ALAGBAGBA, our rights are being infringed”, “we don’t want political king in Orile Ilawo”, “kangaroo election process was done at Elegunmefa, follow the court process”, “we don’t want political king in Orile Ilawo”.
They explained that they are still aggrieved that McGregor was reportedly imposed on them by the state government.
They noted that any visit of the embattled monarch to the community would lead to chaos as youths have threatened to resist the king from entering Alagbagba.
The residents through their Baales insisted that McGregor “is not from the community and has no business to come to say he want to visit us”.
While claiming that MacGregor is neither from the town, nor belong to any of the villages that make up Orile Ilawo, the protesters demanded that his appointment and installation be reversed by government.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Baale of Akibile Village, Chief Timothy Rotimi Adeleye said the installation of the new Oba was against the norms, customs and traditions of the land.
According to him the current king is not from the land.
He said, there is no family called Macgregor or Gbadamosi family in the whole of Orile Ilawo.
He added, “Also, come to think of it, what kind of king is a king crowned by unknown people who aren’t even chiefs from the community one wants to be king over ? You can check with every major ranking member of the Ilawo Council of chiefs. No one is on board with this “political king”.
“What is actually happening is that, we have an age long process, traditions, customs and norms to follow before anybody could be appointed as an Oba, but this processes were being eroded and all of a sudden, we heard that government had appointed somebody who is a ‘stranger’ to be our Oba”.
“He has no family, no house here, nothing whatsoever here. ”
Another resident, Chief Olaifa Ajimagbo stated that every one knows this politically-appointed monarch has a mission over our ancestral lands.
He said, “He and his advisers, particularly the suspended Osi of Ilawo, Chief Anthony Olufade, Wasiu Balogun and their other cohorts are targeting our lands and we have fully uncovered the plot.
“The plan is to annex our villages, and grab our ancestral lands and the monarch is purportedly masterminding the move to annex these villages.
“The irony of it all is that, none of these men, nor the monarch himself is from Orile Ilawo. None of them have any village or family connection to any of the hundreds of the villages in Orile Ilawo.
“We would do everything legally to hold them responsible for these excesses including those sold in the past behind original land owners. Suspended chiefs, Osi of Ilawo, Chief Anthony Olufade , Chief Diyaolu Oluwatosin (former and suspended Sakotun of Ilawo) , Mr Wasiu Balogun still has several amounts of unaccounted money from lands sold in recent past with fake surveys and documents and they have several pending petitions currently being investigated for prosecution based on recommendation of DPP.”
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