There is tension in Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti State, following the quest of one of the quarters in the town, Odo Oye, to become an autonomous community.
It was gathered that the last-minute stoppage of Iooye Descendants’ Day originally planned for last Saturday by security agencies is causing apprehension in the town.
The quest for autonomy is being opposed by the Ajero of Ijero- Ekiti, Oba Joseph Adebayo Adewole, who see the move as an attempt to balkanise one of the largest kingdoms in Ekiti.
The push for autonomy is being led by Chief Michael Omoniyi Obasa, the Elerebi (Family Head) of Odo Oye and Group Captain Ropo Ayegbusi (rtd).
Ayegbusi and 10 others had sued Oba Adewole and the Olodooye of Ijero, Chief Abiodun Aboloyinjo.
They pleaded that Odo Oye is an independent town, distinct and separate from Ijero-Ekiti. The case was later withdrawn.
But Oba Adewole and Chief Aboloyinjo, in a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Etop James, through their lawyer, Taiwo Ogunmoroti, described the planned celebration as a “deliberate invitation to anarchy and breach of peace”.
They urged the commissioner to intervene in the matter and put on hold the celebration.
The defendants averred that the Iooye Descendants’ Day is “novel, strange and suspicious having not been celebrated before”.
But Obasa dismissed the allegation saying the Iooye Descendants’ Day is usually celebrated in line with the quarters’ annual Igoke Olodooye Festival.
He said the people won’t succumb to divide-and-rule tactics.