Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
Obasaoye of Isaoye-Ekiti in Moba Local Government of Ekiti State, Oba Gabriel Olajide, has appealed to his subjects to allow peace to reign and drop the threat of deposition plot against him.
Oba Olajide became the king in 2017 with a vow to rewrite the history of the community and foster development by changing the backward position of the town to prosperity.
He assured the subjects that though he would not participate in ritual activities, being a Christian, he had no intention to eradicate traditional practices in the kingdom.
“Going by the provision of the Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution, I have no power to eradicate any religion because we have freedom to practice religion of our choice,” he said.
Oba Ajibade, who is a member of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry, was last year chased out of the town, following suspicion that he was not interested in traditional religion of his people.
The town, in another petition signed by 14 chiefs and dated July 19, 2019, raised 13 offences against Oba Ajibade, which included non-performance of traditional rites, harassment of subjects with police, highhandedness and absconding the throne.
Debunking the allegations at a press conference in Ado Ekiti, yesterday, Oba Ajibade revealed that he would have been killed because of his faith (Christianity) last August when some irate subjects brought a corpse to his palace and deflated his vehicle’s tyres.
“We just rounded off a revival in my town and few days later, some subjects brought the corpse of a woman to my palace. I had to escape through the bush to Ayetoro,” he said.