A group, Concerned Oyo Indigenes have petitioned the United Nations Human Rights Commission over what they described as unprecedented criminality, flagrant human rights violations, bomb planting and unresolved assassination in Oyo town and the alleged complicity of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi.
In a petition jointly signed by Chiefs J.O. Oluokun and Sulaiman Ajiboye Ishola, they alleged that the entire Oyo community is “disturbed by the frightening speed at which lives of innocent citizens are snuffed out without just cause and due process of law while those who are lucky to be alive are traumatized by highly connected criminals and as well as other sundry acts of brigandage/criminality.”
They alleged that it has become the norm for “persons connected/intimately associated with His Royal Majesty, Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III to commit heinous crimes not limited to murders and unlawful arrests/detentions in Oyo town and get away scot-free.
“We are not unaware of, and have in fact written several petitions to security agencies not limited to various security agencies in Nigeria calling for a thorough investigation into all these “royal crimes” and human rights violations/abuses but to no avail.
For the last 30 years or more, the petitioners alleged that “series of petitions written by prominent Oyo indigenes including but not limited to Chief [Alhaji] Lasisi Ayankojo regarding the human rights abuses, criminal and nefarious activities of Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, with respect to the attempts on his life and the lives of his family members have gone uninvestigated by any security agencies.
The further alleged that in 2009, a petition was forwarded to the office of the Inspector-General of Police as well as to other security agencies detailing the atrocious plans of Oba Adeyemi to plant bombs and other explosive devices in the homes of notable Oyo indigenes and public places including the Muslim Prayer Ground, Isale Oyo where Alhaji Ganiyu Ajiboye Busari was to worship during 2007 Ileya Festival.
“We have concrete evidence and are in possession of documents to show the neck-deep involvement of Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III in this blood-curdling enterprise which would have shattered the peace and stability of Oyo town.
“Names of the persons in whose custody the bombs and explosive are given as Mojeed Agbaje [erstwhile head of Tobalase, Alaafin’s private army], one Yisau, Antony Fatoki and Alhaji Olayiwola Apeka including Akeem Niniowo and Isiaka who was entrusted with the job of procuring these items. Please also find attached a copy of the said petition.
Curiously, however, despite the weight of the allegations and the material evidence provided to back the claim, the alleged that nothing came out of the investigations
They also alleged that there is equally concrete evidence that the Alaafin is heavily involved in the “illicit business of gunrunning and this is to the knowledge of men of the security agencies in Oyo town. One Tunde Abimbola was given the mind-boggling sum of N1. 7 million through one Prince Azeez Fehintola to purchase “some materials” but we reliably gathered that the “materials” referred to are in fact arms and ammunition ranging from AK 47 automatic rifles, G4 rifles and pistols etc.
Presently, they, alleged that there is a massive cache of arms stored in the Palace and this much was confirmed by Mojeed Agbaje, in his video attached to this letter, together with the exact location of these offensive and dangerous weapons.
The petitioners further alleged that there have been several attempts on the lives of Alhaji Ganiyu Busari Ajiboye, Chief [Alhaji] Lasisi Ayankojo and other prominent indigenes of Isale-Oyo community all “undertaken by criminal elements with the backing, support of and at the behest of the Alaafin which, but for providence, would have succeeded with its attendant cataclysmic consequences for the peace and tranquility of Oyo town in particular and Oyo State in general.
The group further alleged that even the heartrending assassination of Chief Amuda Olorunshebi in 1992 was half-heartedly investigated in order to protect the Alaafin despite his obvious complicity in the offence.
The petitioners alleged that in all the petitions written, one name was a recurring decimal as the arrowhead of all the criminality, further alleging that Alaafin’s “Mr. fix-it/Man-Friday is Mojeed Agbaje, the erstwhile head of Tobalase and Alaafin’s Chief bodyguard/henchman used to perpetrate/execute all the sinister plots hatched against perceived opponents/enemies.
The Tobalase group, according to the petitioner, was inaugurated by the Alaafin in 2008 and has its operational base inside the Palace, adding that the group is made up of “notorious criminals, drug addicts, felons and all other sorts and serves as the bodyguards/private army of Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III in his reign of terror in Oyo town.
“Every crime committed in Oyo town in recent past, not limited to assassinations particularly those of Alhaji Adebayo Salawu Atingisi and Alhaji Adegbile, has the bold prints of members of this group on it. This is verifiable from your command in Oyo. Several attempts made by your men to investigate the activities of this group have been frustrated by the Alaafin using his influence and contacts in the society.
They further alleged that innocent citizens are daily being terrorized by this group and physically assaulted, dispossessed of their valuables, humiliated and whisked to the Palace by force at will. “In fact life in Oyo town as at today, to borrow the words of a philosopher, is nasty, brutish and short. We are crying out to you to step in and save-our-souls by causing a thorough investigation to be conducted into the activities of this group and its involvement in the burgeoning crime wave in Oyo town and the complicity of the Alaafin.
They alleged that the State Director of SSS prepared a Security Report on the use of Tobalase to kill and maim innocent souls in Oyo town together with the complicity of the Police but regretted that the report forwarded to the state government in 2009 was never acted upon.
While emphasising its respect and reverence for the traditional institution with particular reference to the Alaafin of Oyo, the insisted that the Alaafin “should not be allowed to hide under the institution of the Alaafin of Oyo to commit heinous crimes against the good people of Oyo town.”
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