Oyo Curfew: Alaafin-elect, Sunday Igboho clash with Muslim group

VANGUARD

The Alaafin-elect, Prince Akeem Owoade, and Yoruba Nation agitator, Mr Sunday Adeyemi, popularly called Igboho, yesterday condemned a call by Yoruba Muslims for Freedom (YMF) that the monarch should be arrested for imposing a 21-day curfew on Oyo town.

Both the Alaafin-elect and Igboho, in separate statements, described the call as reckless and a total disregard for Yoruba heritage.

Recall that Prince Owoade, upon arrival from Canada, went into 21-day seclusion as part of the process for his installation as the new Alaafin of Oyo on April 5, 2025.

As part of the tradition, the monarch had imposed a curfew on the town till the end of the seclusion.

But, the Muslim group, through its spokesperson, Lateef Akinwale, had faulted the monarch for creating a “state inside a state,” adding that the action of the Alaafin-elect amounted to usurpation of the role of the governor and that the monarch holds no legal or constitutional authority to declare such sweeping restrictions over the people.

Alaafin reacts

The monarch, through his Director of media, Bode Durojaye, stated that the call for his arrest was borne out of mischief.

Describing the call for the arrest of Alaafin-elect as “malicious, tendentious, unfounded and a calculated attempt to inflame tension capable of causing religious disharmony,” Durojaye said.