N20 Million To Appease Masquerade Beaten Up By Muslim Group

This may sound funny, but I can assure you it wasn’t a small thing; at least those who witnessed what happened when a Muslim group in Iwo, Osun State clashed with a famous masquerade would tell you.

Now the masquerade called Ogundeji, is demanded for a sum of N20 million to prepare sacrifice to avert evil that may follow action of the group.

The masquerade also added that part of the mon­ey will also be used to sew new regalia for the mas­querade, saying the initial one was badly damaged af­ter the alleged attack by the Muslim group.

Read the main gist below:

According to sources, on Tuesday last week, there was panic in Iwo town, when Kamarudeen Muslim society allegedly attacked Ogundeji masquerade, beat­ing him until he fainted.

During the incident, the Muslim group also alleg­edly burnt the regalia of the masquerade, while the handler narrowly escaped death, but sustained serious injury.

Reacting to the attack, the Alag­baa of Iwo-land, Chief Ojela­na Ojeseyi, condemned the development, describing the attack as “unwarranted, barbaric and inhuman”.

He added that “their ac­tion violate the fundamen­tal rights of the traditional worshippers, hence the need for government and all the relevant agencies to intervene, with a view to checkmate the inhuman treatment and forestall its reoccurrence in the future”.

However, aftermath of the attack, the handler of Ogundeji masquerade, Mrs. Ogundeji Omo-Babalawo, in her reaction disclosed that incident had claimed her ancestors’ inheritance, urging government to come to her aid by providing N20 million to appease the gods and make new regalia for the masquerade.

She insisted that “it would cost almost N20 mil­lion to prepare concoction and sacrifice to appease spirits of the burnt mas­querade and to design an­other one”.

Also in their separate re­actions, two high chiefs of Iwo land, Moderin and Moji­rin, Prince Abimbola Adeg­boyega and Prince Lasunk­anmi Tadese, respectively condemned the attack, say­ing the Muslim group had violated the agreement reached in the palace dur­ing a stakeholders meeting on how to ensure peaceful Egungun festival in the an­cient community.

In his own reaction, the Osun State Commissioner for Infor­mation and Strategy, Mr. Sunday Akere, stated that the government would look into the matter and resolve the issue amicably so as to ensure religious harmony in the state, stressing that the current adminis­tration led by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was committed to peaceful co-existence in the state irrespective of religion and political affliction.

Reacting to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs. Fo­lashade Odor, said police had already commenced investigation into the mat­ter, assuring that anybody found culpable would be made to face the full wrath of law.