‘I am alive,’ Wasila debunks death rumour, denies filming Olóòlù masquerade

A young woman at the centre of widespread social media claims that she died after allegedly filming the revered Olóòlù masquerade in Ibadan has dismissed the reports, declaring that she is alive and was wrongly accused of recording the traditional procession.

Wasila Wasiu and her mother, Mrs Sekinat Wasiu, debunked the rumour of her death in separate interviews.

Mrs Wasiu, whose interview with Lagelu FM 96.7 was aired on Ibi Ayé ń Lọ, a programme on the radio station, spoke at her residence in Koloko, Oju Odo area of Ibadan. She narrated what transpired and denied several claims circulating online.

According to Mrs Wasiu, her daughter neither dressed like a man nor followed the Olóòlù masquerade, contrary to allegations widely shared on social media.

She explained that the main procession had already passed when her daughter recorded a short video showing only a few people who remained behind.

“My daughter merely posted a video of the few people left after the crowd had dispersed, informing her TikTok followers that they had left our area,” she said in Yoruba.

“She did not film the Olóòlù masquerade. However, some adherents accused her of recording them and came to arrest her because she uploaded the video on TikTok.”

Mrs Wasiu said the incident led to her daughter’s arrest on Friday. She maintained that Wasila neither saw nor recorded the Olóòlù masquerade.

She added that the young woman was released on Saturday and was immediately taken to Ode Aje, where traditional appeasement rites were performed following the controversy.

According to the mother, she personally shaved her daughter’s hair as part of the rites and brought the hair back home after the appeasement was completed.

She also dismissed rumours that her daughter had died, saying Wasila was safe, although she was not at home at the time of the interview.

Speaking during the programme, Wasila also denied the viral claims and confirmed that she was alive.

“I thank God that I am alive,” she said.

She explained that on the day the Olóòlù procession passed through the area, she had gone to a nearby shop and was upstairs with another person.

“I saw Amotekun vehicles. The Olóòlù masquerade was not even among the crowd I saw,” she said.

According to her, the video she recorded showed the Amotekun vehicles and the crowd, not the masquerade itself.

She said some TikTok users later advised her to delete the video, which she did.

Despite deleting the clip, she said some Olóòlù adherents came to her shop the following day.

“I don’t know who instigated the whole issue,” she said.

Wasila further stated that although she was taken into police custody, she was neither beaten nor threatened by officers.

She explained that after securing her release, she was taken to Ode Aje, where the prescribed traditional appeasement rites were carried out because of the allegations made against her.

She maintained that she never saw or filmed the Olóòlù masquerade but only recorded the crowd and security vehicles.

The controversy erupted last week after social media posts claimed that Wasila had secretly filmed the Olóòlù masquerade, an important traditional institution in Ibadan, and later died despite efforts by her family to perform appeasement rites.

However, her public appearance alongside her mother has now contradicted the viral reports, with both insisting that the rumours of her death are false and that the incident was based on misinformation.