.Council seals shrine, places armed police on standby

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

As part of measures to prevent possible break down of law and order, management of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Lagos State, has re-sealed a shrine, following unresolved differences between the community members and the monarch, the Ojon of Ejigbo, Oba, Murufudeen Adekunle over hosting of “Omagbo” traditional Festival in the area.

This development has indeed led to a rising tension among indigenes and inhabitants in the community.

The Festival

The Omagbo, which is as an “Orisha” deity, is sacred, so also the festival, rites and rituals that associated with it. It has ancient traditions that must be uphold / respected with utmost sincerity by both the custodian and all the Indigenes of the community.  Failure to uphold / respect the traditions is seen as “Ewo” (taboo) in the community and it is believed that such situation may bring calamitous moments in the community. Omagbo therefore, is not a deity for an individual but for the community. Its festival is celebrated in quinquennially (i.e. in every five years) and it is obligatory for the indigenes, especially those who are direct descendants of the Progenitor, Imakiyo who installed the deity.

The personalities that are allowed to has repositories ritual powers to conduct traditional rituals and rites in Omagbo is “Iya O’nbashu’ but in absence of Iya O’nbashu, Erelu would be in the position to make Iwure in the shrine. It is pertinent to stress that Men are forbidden in the traditions of Omagbo to make or conduct any rituals or rites in the shrine.

Council speaks

Speaking at an open town meeting, Thursday afternoon, the council chairman, Monsurudeen Bello, in company of other executive members of the council, accompanied by armed Policemen stormed the community with an appeal to maintain peace and order even in the face of present charged atmosphere. He assured the people that adequate measures had been taken for protection of lives and property.

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At the sure of the shrine, located opposite Ejigbo Central Mosque, Bello , urged the people not to panic at the unusual presence of armed security men in the area as they were being deployed to ensure their Safety and property.

He explained that the measure became necessary following obvious disregard to a subsisting court order on the banned to maintain status quo pending determination of the substantive case filed by the Nigeria Police.

The council had earlier sealed up the shrine in the wake of the crisis to find a amicable resolution between the warring parties.

The police later took over the matter after a petition written by one Nureni Saula, a member of one of the parties, raising an alarm over impending breakdown of law and order regarding the festival.

It was gathered that the police, upon receipt of the petition and investigation, filed a court case where Justice M.O Tanimola ordered that status quo must be maintained.

Bello narrated thus, ” The council was dragged into the matter precisely on May 15^th, 2019, after receiving a call from a former Lagos Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr. Abdulateef Abdulkareem, informing of a crisis between Ejigbo Monarch and some indigenous members of the community. Immediately, I moved into action by issuing a circular for a meeting that will engender peaceful resolution of the crisis.

“After the circular, we were waiting for the meeting between the warring parties, at the Secretariat. The other party was led by one Alhaji Atiku Olorunfunmi, but we received an appeal from the Monarch that he would not be able to attend the meeting, due to an important matter, which prompted the meeting to be shifted for eight days. Ofcourse,we drafted the Police to take charge of the security for the eight-day grace period.

“Precisely on the eighth day which was 23^rd of April, 2019, the meeting was held with the Monarch in attendance, but the meeting came to an abrupt end when one of the chiefs made derogatory statements regarding the issue..After the meeting, the Monarch and I held a close-door meeting for an hour, and came up with a resolution that another strategic, all-encompassing meeting must be convened on a specified date, but surprisingly, I received a message from the Area Commander of the Nigeria Police from Mushin and DPO Ejigbo informing me of a petition from one of the parties that they were coming to effect some arrests, but I told them I was already having peace meeting with the parties, but because it’s the responsibility of the Police to carry out investigation, I handed the matter over to them.

“The Police, after investigation, filed a court case. After pushing the matter to the court, we expected there should be respite in law and order in the area. I later got an intelligence report of an impending breakdown of law and order, despite the fact that the matter was before the court. We learnt that a section of the parties insisted to go ahead and hold the Festival. As a responsive Government, we announced a ban on the Festival through the media and we later circulated same in the Community to all parties involved.

“We realized that one of the institutions responsible for upholding peace in the community in the person of the Monarch turned down our letter of suspension of the Festival, thus heightening the possibility of an impending crisis. We approached the State Ministry of Local Government in Alausa, which stressed the fact that the responsibility of maintaining peace and order rested with the council. That prompted us to issuing suspension on the festival.

“On the 3^rd of May, 2019, the Council and Police sealed off the shrine, which brought about relative peace. On June 10^th, 2019, I got information that one Chief Mukaila broke the chain of the seal, without recourse to Court Status Quo order. We viewed this as flouting Court Orders and disobedience to authority of the Council. This Government will not tolerate this any longer, as a reconstituted authority.

“There was another public announcement on radio, by some parties, on the plan to hold the Festival. I know that if there was an order from the Court to allow either of the parties to hold it, there would be a letter to all parties involved, clearly stating the position of the Court. The Council later gave a counter-announcement on the earlier suspension notice on the Festival. We expected the party who opened the shrine to have at least approached the Council.

“We want to assure all interests that our Government is committed to delivering dividends of democracy and Justice to the people. We will not be partial. The Council later proceeded to seal up the shrine, even as it extended hands of fellowship to the warring parties for another truce meeting. Meanwhile, everyone should keep distance from the shrine or they would be arrested in the absence of any fresh order from the Court.

“The law of our land permits our religion in line with our beliefs, buy should not be done to undermine the peace and tranquilty of our community. Ejigbo must witness peace; there must be peaceful co-existence in Ejigbo and we will be fair to all, as our door is open to all. Osun celebrates Osun-Osogbo festival with support from the State Government. There is nothing stopping Ejigbo Copuncil from supporting Omagbo Festival, so long there are no divergent views.

“We will not allow people to play sectional interest in the celebration. If they are ready to tow the path of peace, the Council is ready and ever-more ready to support them and make it more popular than what it is today, but we will not allow this celebration  to threaten the peace of this community.”

Residents recount Genesis of crisis

Narrating the genesis of the crisis to Vanguard, an indigene, Mrs Remilekun Balogun said the issue started after the demise of the Chief Priest of “Omagbo” Festival, who often performed the rites before the celebration could take place. According to her, the remains of the Chief Priest was yet to be buried as at press time and it requires that the body be buried before the festival could hold by another recognized Priest. “The process had not been done, but the Monarch insisted that the Festival must hold without burying the former Priest.”

However, the community rose against the move of the Monarch, and poised to stop any form of the Festival. It was at that point that the council, the police and the court stepped in”, she narrated.

Also an indigene, Wasiu Odeyemi corroborated Mrs Balogun’s narrative and assured that the community will abide by the Status Quo order, pending the final determination of the matter, even as he called on stakeholders to maintain peace and order in the interest of the community, Lagos and Nigeria in general.