Thugs Allegedly Working For Lagos Monarch Beat Pregnant Woman To Stupor Till She Suffers Miscarriage
Image
June 6, 2024
He alleged that King Saliu was the one who gave his security guards an order to beat them, search their pockets, and seize their belongings.
A traditionalist leader, Ifakorede Ajibade has reportedly lost an eye after being attacked by a group of thugs allegedly working as security guards for Oba Babatunde Saliu, the monarch of the Oworonshoki, Lagos State.
Ajibade and five others, including a pregnant woman identified as Iya Osun, were beaten into a coma on Sunday on the alleged orders of the monarch.
Speaking with SaharaReporters on Thursday, Ajibade said he could not see out with one eye due to the beating he received.
He said, "My left eye has stopped functioning. Right now, I'm struggling to talk to you because of the pain. Tears have been dropping from my eye and I don't have the money to go to the hospital for treatment.
"On that day, they seized two of our phones. The thugs collected all our money and belongings. Only a few items remained, which we used for sacrifices.”
He alleged that King Saliu was the one who gave his security guards an order to beat them, search their pockets, and seize their belongings
"I can't sleep, and I also can't go out. The injustice is too much because he knows that we don't have anybody in power who can help us. The monarch vowed to kill us and affirmed that nothing would happen if he did," Ajibade said.
He called on all well-meaning Nigerians, Inspector General of Police, human rights lawyers and activists to please help them pursue the case so that they can get justice.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that some thugs allegedly beat a pregnant woman, Iya Osun Agbebi Adekunle Salawe, and her fellow traditionalists to a coma on Sunday, purportedly on the orders of the monarch.
Salawe, speaking about the incident with SaharaReporters, said she was three months pregnant and lost the pregnancy due to the beating she received from the thugs.
She said, "I was planning an Isese festival, and my fellow traditionalists came to visit me to perform a ritual ahead of the festival. After we finished all the sacrifices, they all left."
"I received a call informing me that they were accosted and detained on their way by the guards of Oba Oworonshoki's palace.”
"They were accosted by the Oworonshoki Palace boys, who challenged them about holding a horsetail wand. The boys detained them and asked where they were coming from. They explained that they were coming from my place," she said.
When SaharaReporters called Oba Babatunde Saliu, he denied sending anyone to assault the traditional religion adherents. He, however, stated that the traditionalists came to his town to perform rituals without informing him.
He said, "It was around 8 p.m. on Sunday when I heard some noise from outside the palace. I went outside and saw some traditionalists with horsetails adorned."
The monarch said he asked the traditionalists where they were coming from and what their mission was in his community and they told him they were there to perform a ritual.
The monarch said, "The traditionalists were armed with various kinds of charms. They claimed they had come to perform a ritual for a woman planning to host a traditional festival.
“I challenged one of the traditionalists to affirm whether he was truly Babalawo (Ifa priest). He then brought out his oracle, and I instructed him to use it to verify the authenticity of their mission.
"But to my surprise, the oracle revealed that they came with a bad mission. Immediately, I called the police DPO and informed them that some people had come to my town with malicious intent and that they should come and arrest them."
He said that when the police arrived, the traditionalists begged him not to let them get arrested.
“At that time, a woman also came to appeal,” he said.
"She told me that she was the one who consulted them for the ritual because she planned a festival. I challenged her, asking why she couldn't come and inform the chiefs in the palace. I told her that she could not hold any festival in my community and she pleaded that I should not let the police arrest the traditionalists."
Oba Saliu said he called the DPO and told him that the matter had been settled and they all departed.
"The next thing I heard was that someone had beaten the woman, and we immediately ordered the person's arrest. I don't tolerate such behaviour; it is a terrible thing to fight a woman. Women can provoke and say anything, but we must know how to manage such situations. I won't support anyone beating a woman, no matter what," he said.
However, he denied the allegation that he ordered thugs to beat the traditionalists.