Residents sue Kwara govt over monarch’s wrongful installation

Some residents of Kajola town in Oke Ero Local Government, Kwara State, have threatened legal action against the state government for allegedly installing a monarch who is standing trial.

The newly crowned monarch was dragged to a magistrate court in March by some princes and ruling houses for allegedly parading himself wrongly as the Edemorun of Kajola.

The aggrieved parties, Princes Orishatuyi AbdulRoheem, Adeniyi Akanbi, AbdulSalam Abdul Azeez, Olayemi Oladipupo, and Yusuf Adio, all of the Idofin Ruling House in the Ekiti town, insinuated that the installation would influence the court’s decision.

The residents have also included the new traditional ruler, Prince Jide Kehinde, and five princes in the suit for constituting themselves into kingmakers and, in the process, appointing Prince Kehinde as king.

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According to them, the accused contravened Section 16 (1 & 2) and Section 16 (Sub-section 3) of Kwara State Chiefs’ Appointment Law, while the new king was said to have contravened Section 13 of the State’s Chiefs’ Appointment and Deposition Law.

The plaintiffs alleged that the exercise contradicted the culture and tradition of the community.

They also alleged that, aside from being wrongly crowned, Kehinde, who is currently standing trial before Magistrate M.B. Ajetunmobi in Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local Government Area (LGA), has now been transferred to Ilorin.

“The matter has been in court since March and was adjourned for a later date when the presiding magistrate, M.B. Ajetunmobi, was transferred from Omu Aran to Ilorin, the state capital,” the aggrieved stated.

According to the aggrieved, the alleged unconventional kingmakers are Princes Agboola Oluwo, Sunday Dada, Azeez Omoribawu, Ajewole Ogundipe, and Bamisaiye Jejeloye.

The offense, according to the chieftaincy law of Kwara State, could attract four years of imprisonment if found guilty.

“It was while the adjourned date was being awaited that the news suddenly featured on local radio stations that the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs, and Rural Development, Alhaji Abdullahi Bata, had presented the Oba with an appointment letter and a staff of office as Edemorun of Kajola,” one of the plaintiffs disclosed.

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Earlier, while testifying before Magistrate Ajetunmobi in Omu Aran in March, Mallam Garuba Toyin Ibrahim, a senior officer of the State Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs, and Rural Development, was said to have told the court that under the enabling laws, the Kwara Government had not appointed any king for Kajola town.

He also added that, at the time in question, the only lawful body that could inform the government in writing that the stool of the Edemorun of Kajola was vacant should be the Oke Ero Traditional Council, which had not been done at the time.

Speaking with our reporter in Ilorin, Prince Olayemi Oladipupo, one of the aggrieved princes, who also led others to express their displeasure over the development, said that since the matter was still in court, the government should be duty-bound to abide by and respect court processes.

According to him, they were shocked that a Staff of Office and an Appointment Letter were presented to their supposed king at a location not known to the people of the Kajola community.

All efforts to reach the commissioner, Alhaji Abdullahi Bata, were unsuccessful as he could not be reached by phone, and his press secretary repeatedly hinted that he was not in the office.