A middle-aged man, Prince Henry Oluwafemi Ogunleye, has cried out over moves by his native community leaders to forcibly install him as the traditional ruler of Osun Loro community of Ilesa,
Osun State.
Ogunleye, who said it was against his wish to ascend to the throne of his late father-Pa Felix Ogunleye, due to his Christian belief, lamented that the community’s
native cult leaders are now on his trail, since they claimed the oracle insisted on his
choice.
In a petition he deposed to, Ogunleye stated, “My father became king (Oba) in 2000 and in 2016, the oracle foretold that there was going to be war between brothers in the royal family, that my father and mother were going to die because of the royal
squabble.
“The oracle foretold further that his brother, my uncle, wanted to kill him so as to take the crown from him. The oracle, it was learnt, asked my parents to perform some rituals before November 20, 2016 so they could survive the plot against their lives.
“But because my parents had become Jehovah Witnesses at the period, they declined doing any ritual. Unfortunately, on April 17, 2017, both my father and mother were murdered by yet to be identified assassins.
“So shortly after, my uncle ascended the throne of my father,” he recalled
Ogunleye added that since his uncle ascended the throne, the community had been thrown into turmoil and that his uncle, as a result of massive hostility, is now willing to abdicate the
throne.
“Since my uncle became king, some strange plague has entered the community; the rivers have dried up, people fall sick shortly and die en mass, and people are leaving the town in
droves.
“The oracle, they told me, insisted on me for peace to return but I am a born-again Christian, a child of God who cannot perform any ritual. And for me to become the monarch, I must undergo certain rituals which negate my Christian belief. As a Christian, I can never get involved in spritism, oracles, sacrifices, and fetish rituals,” Ogunleye
complained.
The distraught man said he is currently in a hideout in Lagos, urging rights groups to come to
his aid.
