- Family head begs adherents to spare him
Tension has gripped the people of Temidire in Odolua Quarters, Ile-Oluji Local Government Area of Ondo State, following the refusal of a lawyer, Mr. Tunde Ebenezer Omobobami, to present himself for the necessary traditional rites for his installation as the Chief Priest of the Ogun cult in the community.
Our correspondent learnt that due to Omobobami’s disappearance, the lawyer’s extended family members and other people in the community had become apprehensive and agitated because of the consequences of his disobedience.
The leaders of the Ogun cult in the area had recently served the Lagos-based lawyer, who has now fled his home in the Iju area of the state, a notice to prepare to lead other devotees during the annual festival scheduled for August this year, or risk dire consequences.
The cult leaders had also then advised the lawyer to submit himself for installation as the chief priest of the Ogun cult in the town before the expiration of the ultimatum.
They had said that Omobobami should urgently return home to undergo the rituals for his installation as the chief priest of the Ogun deity to enable him to lead the other devotees of Ogun in the town during the forthcoming annual festival or face the full weight of traditional sanctions for his disobedience.
Recently, the lawyer raised the alarm in an interview with The Point, alleging that his relations wanted him dead for refusing to make himself available for installation as the chief priest of Ogun in his hometown, having become a church deacon and a committed Christian.
Omobobami, who had claimed that unidentified agents of the cult had been on the trail of his family, had also disclosed that he had petitioned the police, who had yet to take any action on the matter.
He said he and his family members had since faced persistent threats and attempted attacks from the agents of the cult group, forcing them to change residence a couple of times.
Our correspondent, however, gathered that leaders of the Ogun cult in the town had met once again over the fleeing lawyer’s case and had decided to impose on him and his family members “the maximum traditional sanctions.”
They were said to have also vowed to use every power and means in their possession to deal with him for disobeying the tradition of the town. The Ogun cult leaders allegedly threatened to invoke the wrath of the fiery god of iron, Ogun, on the fleeing lawyer.
A member of the Omobobami extended family, Pa Ogunwale Aikulola, said that the Ogun cult leaders had, for the second time in recent months, communicated their decision on the fleeing lawyer to his kinsmen, warning that they viewed the matter seriously.
The septuagenarian refused to identify the Ogun cult leaders and adherents, saying he had to be “careful.”
He, however, appealed to the Ogun cult leaders to temper “traditional justice” with mercy by sparing Omobobami and members of his extended family the sanctions and wrath of the god
of iron.
The old man said, “They have warned that they would deal with our son, the lawyer, with all of their powers for disobeying tradition. They vowed that they would not allow the tradition to slip into oblivion. They vowed to make this country unbearable and hot for him and his family.
“They said since he was born into it, they would not allow him to abandon the cult in the name of any other religion, especially since the god himself has nominated him. They warned us that the dangers inherent in his refusal to submit himself to the god are
weighty.
“They reminded us that refusing to lead the Ogun cult is punishable by death because the god does not spare anyone who fails to do his wish. They said it was the wish of the god that he (Omobobami) should be the chief priest and to lead the festival in August, 2018. They said that the Ogun god himself had chosen him and so he had nowhere he could run to in this country. They further warned that we should also know that Ogun worshippers and adherents were all over Nigeria and so he (lawyer) could not escape the wrath of the god.”
All attempts by our correspondent to speak with leaders of the Ogun cult in the community on the matter were unsuccessful. Afraid of possible reprisal, residents of the town refused to identify the Ogun cult leaders.
The Ogun shrine in the town was deserted when our correspondent visited to make some inquiries on the matter.
