Missing children: Rituals to hold across Lagos State

SUBAIR MOHAMMED spoke with the Aare Onikoyi of Yorubaland, Chief Tomori Williams and the Aro of Otto and Lagos Mainland, Chief Jibril Oloto, to further unravel the mystery of missing children in Otto community and the lingering obaship tussle.

You are alleged to be responsible for the community’s inability to choose an Oba because of your business interest which may clash with that of a new king. How true is this?

That is completely false. I am playing a major role to reconcile the various interests in the community. I have reconciled not only the chiefs but also contenders for the stool but they have been adamant.

Aside from this, I have been an attorney for the Oloto family for many years and I got my attorneyship executed by the late Oba and some chiefs who are still alive.

If I could function perfectly when he was alive, I see no reason why anybody would say I am working against the selection and installation of a king in Otto community. What do I stand to gain from that? In fact, I am losing more with the absence of a traditional ruler in the Otto community. I have hundreds of millions of naira tied down on Otto jobs and I believe that if there is a king on that throne, this wouldn’t have happened.

There are lots of issues which ought to have been discussed at the government level and this would be made easier if there was an oba on the throne. Just imagine the combination of an Oloto of Otto and Lagos Mainland and me by his side pursing a common goal. You can imagine what the outcome would be.

But I have been a lone ranger since the demise of the king who gave me tremendous support. In fact, I won’t call him my benefactor; he was my father because he never treated me like someone that had come to give a professional advice to the family. So, if anyone tells you that getting an oba in Otto would clash with my interest, that is a blatant lie. They are not being honest with themselves.

Is there any cultural or spiritual explanation for the calamities befalling the community, especially recurring cases of missing children. Does it have anything to do with the vacant stool?

I will answer the question from two sides. Firstly, I cannot sit down in my office and tie the cases of missing children to the vacant stool. No, I won’t do that. But I can tell you that from the traditional angle, one can easily link the mood of the ancestors to what is happening in the community. The question is: are the ancestors happy with the state of affairs in Otto community? The ancestors are supposed to be direct spiritual connection with Otto community, the chiefs and the people but they have been locked up in the palace for many years, unattended to. You can imagine the lockdown of the palace of Oloto of Otto for many years with spiritual cleansing being held in it and the community. I doubt if the ancestors are happy with the chiefs in Otto community.

Why would the ancestors not be happy with the chiefs?

The ancestors couldn’t be happy because the chiefs are unmindful of their interest and wellbeing. They are negligent and heedless to the plights of the ancestors.

The aggrieved ruling houses went to court for a fair deal. There is no problem about that but what could have warranted the shutting down of the palace? The palace has been locked for so many years. Meanwhile, there is a particular religious sacrifice that is supposed to be held on a weekly basis at the palace but this has not been done for years.

Go to other palaces, there is a weekly ritual where the chief priest would pour libation and offer prayers for the community. This has not been done in the community for years.

You can imagine the consequence of the gods not being appreciated or noticed for many years. While the chiefs are enjoying in their homes, the ancestors have been deprived of their freedom. It is like someone trying to arrest the ancestors. Can anyone arrest the ancestors? So, whatever the ancestors have decided to do in reaction to the lockdown, I am not in a position to determine or explain.

In other words, cases of missing children in the community are as a result of the anger of the ancestors rather than the alleged invasion of the community by kidnappers?

I have not said that. I have just told you that it is something that has not been empirically proven. If the ancestors are happy, children can still go missing but if the ancestors are angry, calamity can also befall the community.

You are only basing your concern on the missing children but there are other challenges facing the residents of Otto. If the ancestors are not happy, a lot of things can go wrong but if they are happy, they can protect the entire community. I grew up in this community and I never heard of anything like children missing. This is a strange occurrence.

What is the way out of these challenges?

First, they should lift the shutdown placed on the palace. The issue of selecting an oba should not be tied to the shutting down of the palace. The palace should be opened for normal religious, spiritual and cultural activities that the palace is known for and that should start in earnest. There should be fresh around the palace.

We have told the warring parties to sheathe their swords. They need to sit down and have a mature discussion. I pray that there will be a successful resolution at the end of their coming together that could lead to the selection of an oba.

Lastly, the position they are vying for is not a clergyman position, let them go back to tradition and get the people that are unbiased to come and divine and give us an oba.

What is your interest in Otto community?

First and foremost, I am an attorney to the Oloto royal family. I am also a major stakeholder in Otto and Lagos Mainland as a whole in the area of human capital development and contribution to the day-to-day running of the community. Even outside my attorneyship, I liaise with the chiefs and other stakeholders for good governance.

My relationship with the royalty is very cordial. And this I have been enjoying since the days of the late monarch, Oba Ganiu Okeyide Odesanya. I still have a robust and personal relationship with all the chiefs.

Considering your cordial relationship with the Oloto royal family and the chiefs, why has the royal stool remained vacant since the demise of the last king?

I will blame the aggrieved ruling families for not listening to wise counsel. And that is why my relationship with them has not yielded fruits. Some time ago, after the demise of the king, the kingmakers met. They discussed with the heads of the ruling houses and that led to the selection of an oba-elect.

Since that period, there has been one problem or the other which has culminated to the point where we are right now in the community.

Who are these aggrieved factions and what are their grievances?

My relationship with the ruling houses won’t allow me to mention names but I can tell you that Baalo ruling house is the next ruling house to mount the Oloto royal stool based on the declaration by the late king.

The late king was from the Olupejobi ruling house. After his demise, based on an understanding, he declared Baalo ruling house as the next in line.

The kingmakers and Baalo ruling house met and chose an oba-elect but this oba-elect was rejected by some chiefs and some members of the Baalo ruling house. This is what led to court cases.

Now that they are in court, there is nothing anybody can do. But the fact of the matter is that the Oloto vacant stool has nothing to do with an individual’s interest or some mischievous characters. It is all about the court and some contenders who believe they were not properly treated and their interests not protected during the selection process.

So, there is no hope of filling the vacant stool until the court case is resolved?

Unfortunately, that is the belief of some people but not mine. I am a firm believer in peaceful conflict resolution and therefore I don’t think there is any issue that cannot be resolved with patience and wisdom.

With the number of years we have wasted after the demise of the late king, I think the best for all parties is to forget individual differences and forge ahead as one family. We need to speak with one voice.
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Our plans to end calamities —Chief Jibril Oloto

What is your responsibility as chief of the community?

There are six traditional chiefs in Otto community. The chiefs are part of the administrative structure of Otto community. As chiefs, we are responsible for the day-to-day running of the community on behalf of the king. We play a complementary role by ensuring the smooth running of the community. We also maintain local culture and tradition. But since the demise of the king six years ago, we coordinate affairs in the community and maintain peaceful coexistence among the different ethnic groups.

How far have you gone in maintaining local culture and tradition, especially as regards the reported cases of missing children in the community?

To start with, it saddened our hearts to hear about another case of missing child. I want to state that this is not what we represent in our community. Otto is known to be a peaceful community. This is a rare occurrence.

On behalf of all the chiefs, I sympathise with the parents of the missing children. We don’t pray for its recurrence. Since the demise of our king, we have been doing everything to maintain our culture and tradition. We have discharged this responsibility without fear or favour.

For instance, when the first case of a missing child was reported, we knew it was a strange occurrence. We offered a huge sacrifice to appease our ancestors. We did not stop at that. We also invited Muslim and Christian clerics. They supplicated to God in Yoruba and Hausa languages for the peace of the community.

There were signs that our prayers were answered because since then, we never heard about kidnapping or missing children in the community until recently. Some weeks ago, I was told that a child went missing. We quickly summoned the chiefs and held a meeting. We decided to make an official report at Iponri police station.

We alerted the DPO and the Area Commander and put officials of the Neighbourhood Safety Agency on alert. They maintain a 24-hour surveillance of the community and are stationed at the entrance of the community, monitoring activities. We did this while we intensify prayers to God to return the children to their parents safely.

What other steps have been taken to appease the ancestors?

We have involved the police and we are not resting on our oars. There are upcoming traditional rites and atonement to appease the ancestors which will be held across Lagos State. We are organising another rite specifically for the peace of the community.

Aside from this, parents need to be watchful and mindful of the safety of the children. If you look around, everywhere is quiet. Many residents have gone to work. It could be that the evildoers are lurking around to perpetrate their evil acts. No one knows. We pray our ancestors expose the perpetrators of these evil acts.

Due to the closure of the palace, traditional rite has not been performed for close to two years and neither has the weekly ritual been held to appease the ancestors. Could this be responsible for the calamities happening in the community?

Without mincing words, the closing of the palace, especially the absence of rituals and other traditional rites, has raised a lot of dust. But I need to say this: the palace was not shut on the orders of the chiefs. We never ordered the closure, court did.

There are three ruling houses in Otto community with Baalo ruling house as the next in line to produce the king.

Meanwhile, from the Baalo ruling house, there are about five candidates jostling for the stool with none of them willing to step down for another. In the midst of the succession race, they dragged themselves to court and the court ordered that the palace be locked.

Before the palace was locked, traditional rites and cultural activities were held every nine days but these stopped after the palace was shut. We are unable to appease the ancestors. We are not happy about the decision of the court but we cannot go against it. We were told that the court is on break but we are taking steps to ensure that the palace is reopened very soon.

Does the closure of the palace have any impact on the community?

It does. Definitely, there would be consequences which would have adverse effect on everyone. Even the chiefs are not spared. Part of it is what we are experiencing in the form of kidnapping which, until now, was a rarity.

We, the chiefs, eat in our various homes. What did we give our ancestors to eat? In the last six years, we have not offered any sacrifice to our ancestors.

Within this period, there have been fire outbreaks, cult clashes and kidnappings. These are rare occurrences in Otto community. This is to tell you that the gods are angry. But as I said earlier, we are making moves to reopen the palace, because those that are instrumental in the closure of the palace have regretted their actions. We are willing to offer the required sacrifice to our ancestors for our community to be peaceful again.

What are the chiefs doing to restore normalcy in the community?

We are doing everything in our powers to ensure that the community is peaceful. It has been peaceful, save for the mild rumbling among the contending parties. We recently held a meeting with the Baalo ruling house that they should come up with the name of one candidate for the throne. But that does not disturb the reopening of the palace.

It was never heard in Otto history that the palace was shut. When Oba Ogundimu died in 1976, it took almost 10 years before a successor was selected and the palace was not shut. It is unfortunate that this has happened and I want to believe that those that were responsible did it in error.

Are the ancestors truly angry with the chiefs?

We know it is wrong to lock the palace because it does not belong to an individual; it belongs to the community. The judge that ordered the closure of the palace made the pronouncement based on what was presented before him. So, I am certain that he will be willing to reverse the judgment because the parties are now willing to listen to the voice of wisdom.

We live in Otto community therefore everything that happens affects us too. But on behalf of all the chiefs, I am assuring residents of the community that the challenge we are collectively facing will soon be a thing of the past.

None of us prays for evil to befall anyone, be it an indigene or tenant in the community but we cannot do it alone. We are all in it together and we are trying our best to appease our ancestors and ensure that peace is restored.