TRIBUNE
The relationship between the Owa-in-Council and the children of the immediate past Owa Obokun Adimula of Ijesaland, late Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran, has soured over alleged mismanagement of funds provided for the monarch’s burial rites.
Family members expressed displeasure over what they described as undue financial burdens imposed on them by the Owa-in-Council, citing “phantom rites” following the monarch’s passing.
In response, Chief Bola Orolugbagbe, the Odole Owa of Ijesaland, dismissed the allegations, saying, “Tell them to name the chiefs that are extorting them. That’s all. We are free, so they should provide the names of those chiefs, and you can publish them in your newspaper, online, or elsewhere.”
He added, “It’s a free world, so let them name the people, so anybody that seems offended like Afe Babalola can take action, can take any legal, civil or criminal action against them. It’s either civil or criminal defamation.”
However, the late monarch’s kinsmen, represented by the Aleki of Ileki-Ijesa, the Onikedun of Ikedun-Ijesa, and Elder Adebisi Aromolaran, claimed they were coerced into paying exorbitant fees under duress.
In a statement signed by the monarch’s biological children and other family members, they decried the alleged lack of transparency and accountability in the use of burial funds and criticized the council’s separate funeral ceremony as divisive.
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