The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz
Ringim, has ordered an investigation into the controversy surrounding
the Ataoja of Osogbo stool.
Investigation by our correspondent on Sunday showed that Ringim’s order resulted from a petition filed by one of the ruling houses to the Ataoja stool dispute, Sogbo ruling House.
Sogbo ruling house, which comprises Gbaemu and Oluawo royal families, headed for the court when the Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration picked Oba Jimoh Oyetunji as the Ataoja.
Before the Oyinlola administration installed Oyetunji as the Ataoja on September 12, 2010, the Sogbo ruling House had got a court injunction restraining the state government from appointing an Ataoja.
The petition, which was submitted to the IG by the chambers of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola, called on the police to investigate the continued stay of the monarch in palace despite the declaration by two Osogbo High Courts that the Ataoja stool was vacant.
Consequently, the IG ordered the petition dated June 30, 2011, to be investigated by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Saidu Daya.
Daya, in turn, directed the Osun State police command headed by Mr Solomon Olusegun, to look into the propriety or otherwise of the Ataoja’s continued stay in office.
In February this year, an Osogbo High Court headed by Justice Yinka Aderibigbe, declared the Ataoja’s stool vacant even as Justice Oyejide Falola, in another ruling, declared the Ataoja as an impostor.
Counsel for the Ataoja, M A Laogun and Co, in another letter to the IG dated August 10, 2011, accused a human rights activist, Mr. Shittu Amitolu, of unfairly supporting one of the candidates in the kingship tussle.
A youth group, Osogbo Dynamic Youths, led by Mr Adisa Iwaloye, in a statement, on Sunday, hailed the choice of Oyetunji as the Ataoja, describing him as humble and kind.
But Amitolu, who debunked the accusations levelled against him by Laogun and Co, insisted that the monarch had no right to remain on the throne, having been sacked by a court.
Amitolu said, “The fact of the matter is that Oyetunji did not appeal the judgement of Justice Yinka Aderibigbe, which sacked him from the throne.
“Rather, he asked to be joined in the case and this was nullified by Justice Oyejide Falola. I’m not being sponsored by anybody. I’ve been into human rights activism since the last 22 years. What we are fighting for is justice and rule of law.”
Head of Gbaemu royal family, Alhaji Nosiru Oyeniyi, and the Head of Oluawo royal family, Pa Claudius Fayoyiwa, held a closed-door meeting with the Osun police commissioner last Friday at Osun police headquarters, Oke-Fia, Osogbo.
The police commissioner enjoined the family heads to ensure peace in the settling of the royal dispute.
By Tunde Odesola, Osogbo Courtsy Of: Punch
Investigation by our correspondent on Sunday showed that Ringim’s order resulted from a petition filed by one of the ruling houses to the Ataoja stool dispute, Sogbo ruling House.
Sogbo ruling house, which comprises Gbaemu and Oluawo royal families, headed for the court when the Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration picked Oba Jimoh Oyetunji as the Ataoja.
Before the Oyinlola administration installed Oyetunji as the Ataoja on September 12, 2010, the Sogbo ruling House had got a court injunction restraining the state government from appointing an Ataoja.
The petition, which was submitted to the IG by the chambers of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola, called on the police to investigate the continued stay of the monarch in palace despite the declaration by two Osogbo High Courts that the Ataoja stool was vacant.
Consequently, the IG ordered the petition dated June 30, 2011, to be investigated by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Saidu Daya.
Daya, in turn, directed the Osun State police command headed by Mr Solomon Olusegun, to look into the propriety or otherwise of the Ataoja’s continued stay in office.
In February this year, an Osogbo High Court headed by Justice Yinka Aderibigbe, declared the Ataoja’s stool vacant even as Justice Oyejide Falola, in another ruling, declared the Ataoja as an impostor.
Counsel for the Ataoja, M A Laogun and Co, in another letter to the IG dated August 10, 2011, accused a human rights activist, Mr. Shittu Amitolu, of unfairly supporting one of the candidates in the kingship tussle.
A youth group, Osogbo Dynamic Youths, led by Mr Adisa Iwaloye, in a statement, on Sunday, hailed the choice of Oyetunji as the Ataoja, describing him as humble and kind.
But Amitolu, who debunked the accusations levelled against him by Laogun and Co, insisted that the monarch had no right to remain on the throne, having been sacked by a court.
Amitolu said, “The fact of the matter is that Oyetunji did not appeal the judgement of Justice Yinka Aderibigbe, which sacked him from the throne.
“Rather, he asked to be joined in the case and this was nullified by Justice Oyejide Falola. I’m not being sponsored by anybody. I’ve been into human rights activism since the last 22 years. What we are fighting for is justice and rule of law.”
Head of Gbaemu royal family, Alhaji Nosiru Oyeniyi, and the Head of Oluawo royal family, Pa Claudius Fayoyiwa, held a closed-door meeting with the Osun police commissioner last Friday at Osun police headquarters, Oke-Fia, Osogbo.
The police commissioner enjoined the family heads to ensure peace in the settling of the royal dispute.
By Tunde Odesola, Osogbo Courtsy Of: Punch
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