Osun monarch, Oba Jelili Olaiya, recounts palace attack by hoodlums

The Ajeniju of Halleluyah Community in Osun State, Oba Jelili Olaiya, has detailed a violent attack on his palace last Friday, leaving four people, including himself, injured.

Speaking from his hospital bed, the monarch explained that the assailants accused him of appointing an Imam for the Ido Osun community without consulting the area’s Chief Imam. Oba Olaiya refuted the claim, stating that his Halleluyah Community is distinct from Ido Osun and that he had not established a mosque in the area.

The attackers vandalized parts of the palace and injured his wife and two others during the chaos.

Despite the deployment of about 18 police officers and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel, the hoodlums overwhelmed the security team, inflicting damage and injuries.

Narrating how the incident happened, Olaiya said, “The place where the Ajeniju installed an Imam is not on Ido-Osun land. It is in front of my palace. I didn’t install an Imam on Ido-Osun land. The installation was done in front of my place where we also observed the Jumat prayer that day.

“The newly installed Imam had already led one Jumat prayer for us. It was during the following Friday (last Friday) when we were preparing for the Jumat around 11:00 a.m. that the hoodlums came around. That day, some officers came to my palace before those thugs arrived.

“The officers said it was the Divisional Police Officer in Ido-Osun who sent them. Later, the DPO came around and told me he was hearing rumours that I installed an Imam and built a new mosque.

“I told him we didn’t build a new mosque and that we had our Jumat prayer in front of my palace. He said the Chief Imam of Ido-Osun complained that we ought to have come to him for approval, and I replied to the DPO that I was not on Ido-Osun’s land.

“The police were there when we were attacked. The police officers were from Ido-Osun and the state Anti-Kidnapping units, as well as officers from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, numbering about 18.”

He called for reinforcement of security in the area to prevent further breakdown of peace and appealed for calm to allow the government find a solution to the issue that led to the crisis.

He further said, “I was not the only person that those thugs attacked. My wife, one of my chiefs, Mayowa George, as well as, one of our most senior clerics called Alfa Agba, were seriously injured.”

Efforts to get the Osun State Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps’ reaction to the claim by Oba Olaiya failed as calls to the spokespersons for the two security agencies, Yemisi Opalola and Kehinde Adeleke, respectively did not go through.

The two officers had not also responded to text messages sent to them by our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.