Traditional chiefs in Ode Irele, the Ondo state community stalled by mystery deaths have embarked on ritual cleansing to rid the area of further calamity.
They said the ritual was necessary to propitiate the deity, Malokun, who they claimed was still enraged by the invasion of its shrine by hoodlums who stole its artefacts.
Speaking with The Nation during the week, the chiefs maintained that, contrary to official figure of 18 deaths disclosed by Ondo State government, more than 30 lives have been lost to the incident.
They noted that the deity was only meant to be seen by the king and the chief priest, warning that danger was not yet averted as the deity would continue to blind and kill people wherever it had been sold.
“It is not true that it was 18 persons that were killed. More than 30 people died and we have their names and know their families. We are going to invite and interview them one after the other shortly.By this ritual, we are trying to appeal to Malokun not to be angry again. Since the incident occurred, rain has not been falling. It has been raining in other places but it hasn’t here. The calamity that the theft of the deity will cause has just started because it will continue to cause similar havoc wherever they have taken it to. We are only trying to safeguard our community. It is natural that people outside the community would be scared to come and trade here when the incident was raging. They can now come back because we have done the needful.