Ibadan palace attack: AIG visits Olubadan

Barely twenty-four hours after some unknown gunmen attacked the palace of Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 11, Mr. Oshodi Glover has visited the palace with a promise to track down the fleeing hoodlums.

The AIG, who was accompanied by the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr. Abiodun Odude and other top-ranking officers, allayed the fears of the people, promising “to pursue, arrest and prosecute the said gunmen”.

He also expressed dismay at the manner the hoodlums desecrated the palace, saying, “Kabiyesi, it was immediately I heard of what happened here yesterday that I decided to come and visit you.

“I promise you that we are going to pursue the hoodlums and we will make sure they are arrested and brought to book”, he said.

Oba Adetunji while responding appreciated the police boss for his timely visit.

He said, “Whoever does not do it well, does not do it well for himself. Whoever does it well, does it well for himself. The position we occupy today had been occupied before by others. We are here today, and it is a fact that we don’t know who would be there tomorrow. The fact that we don’t know who would be there tomorrow, should teach everyone a lesson that we should be doing good.

“We should all strive to do good. I never dreamt of what happened here yesterday. It was God who protected us and ensured nobody died. I thank God for that. I thank you because I don’t have anyone I need to fight among you. What I know is that God is going to reward everyone according to his deeds”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Authentic Ibadan Mogajis on Tuesday cried foul that their lives were no longer safe in the present circumstance.

Spokesperson of the group, Mogaji Wale Oladoja while condemning the ugly incident asked the Police Force Headquarters to wade in and fortify the palace.

Oladoja who made the position of his colleagues, Mogaji AbdulJelil Adanla and Mogaji Abass Oloko known in a statement made available to journalists declared that the need for the force headquarters to come in became necessary “because the anonymous calls being received from different quarters are warning us to back out of the current struggle to protect our inheritance and centuries of peaceful ascension to the stool of Olubadan”.

Oladoja added that, “You recall two weeks ago, we addressed the press where we urged our revered monarch to begin installation of new Mogajis and Baales to put a stop to the lull in the palace since the unfortunate crowning of 21kings in a single day by the state governor.

“The anonymous callers keep hammering on our roles which culminated in Monday’s ceremony at the palace. We have entered their bad book for standing with Kabiyesi to preserve our culture, system and tradition of Ibadan traditional institution as indivisible entity under the sole kingship of Olubadan”.

Oladoja then appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to take more than passing interest in Oyo State and Ibadanland in particular, saying “if hoodlums could brazenly attack the palace and no arrest was made till now, no effort should be spared to safe the souls of millions of inhabitant and defenceless citizens of the land.”

Similarly, Minister of Communications, Barrister Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Shittu has expressed shock on Monday’s attack on the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadanland.

Shittu in a telephone conversation on Tuesday with Oba Adetunji described the gun attack on Olubadan’s abode as a desecration of culture and tradition.

He said it was inconceivable that anyone would make an attempt to exterminate Kabiyesi and his subjects under any guise.

“I am reluctant to see this as the outcome of a political disagreement with the powers that be. Whatever is their reason, the attackers should be fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law”, the Minister said.

Shittu then congratulated Senator Rasheed Ladoja and Chief Abiodun Alli for coming out of the palace unscathed.

He prayed that peace and tranquility will reign in Oyo state at all times even as he urged the State Government to expand consultation and dialogue with all stakeholders.

Also, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Engineer Seyi Makinde while condemning the attack described it as brigandage of unprecedented proportion.

Makinde in a statement madde available to DAILY POST through his Media Aide, Alhaji Akeem Azeez, revealed that he was shocked and embarrassed by calls from eminent Nigerians drawing his attention to the fact that his hometown, Ibadan, had been in the news in recent times but for the wrong albeit avoidable reasons.

He revealed that in his over 40 years of life as an indigene of Ibadan, he had never heard of when an Olubadan’s palace was attacked.

He said “In Yoruba land, palaces are sacred places and it is anathemic to attack them by any right thinking person.”