You must lead festival in August or risk consequences, Ogun deity chiefs tell fleeing lawyer

The leaders of the Ogun cult in Temidire, Odolua Quarters, Ile-Oluji in Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State have served a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Tunde Ebenezer Omobobami, a notice to prepare to lead other devotees during the annual festival scheduled for August this year or risk dire consequences.
The cult leaders have also 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 said that Omobobami should urgently return home to undergo the rituals for his installation as the chief priest of the cult 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.
The lawyer had recently 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.
Last Thursday, our correspondent gathered that leaders of the Ogun cult met and resolved to give the fleeing lawyer an ultimatum to submit himself for installation as the town’s Ogun chief priest or risk the wrath of the fiery god of iron.
Confirming the development, a member of Omobobami’s extended family, Pa Ogunwale Aikulola, said that the leaders of the Ogun cult group in the town, who he refused to identify, owing to the fear of reprisal, had already communicated their decision to the family and they were already on the trail of the fleeing lawyer.
Aikulola, therefore, advised the lawyer to make himself available for installation before the expiration of the ultimatum to escape “dire consequences” and equally save the town from the calamity that could be visited on it by the fiery god.
The old man said, “I will just want to advise him (Omobobami) to accede to their request to avoid any problem, because he cannot run from them forever. He should forget about his current status as a lawyer. Our tradition does not take your status into consideration. His father was the chief priest of the cult and the Olu-Ode. Throughout his lifetime, his father served this community in that capacity. He (Omobobami) is the only one around now that can take up the chief priest position. His brothers ran away, but he cannot escape and I think he should know this fact. He should, please, accept to lead the cult and save the town the impending wrath his refusal could bring on himself, his family and the entire community.
“He should know that refusing to lead the Ogun cult is punishable by death because the god does not spare anyone who fails to do his wish. It is the wish of the god that he (Omobobami) should be the chief priest and to lead the festival in August, 2018. The Ogun god himself has chosen him and so he has nowhere he can run to in this country. He should also know that Ogun worshippers and adherents are all over Nigeria and so he can’t escape the wrath of the god.”
But Omobobami, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone from his hideout, insisted that he was not interested in occupying the