Residents of Owo on Thursday trooped out en masse to back the demolition of the memorial park built to immortalise the victims of the June 2, 2022 terror attack on St Francis Xavier Catholic Church Owo.
The memorial park, built by the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s led administration, was pulled down over the weekend over its location considered as a ‘taboo’ and against the culture and belief of Owo people.
Converging on the front of the palace of the Olowo of Owo, the protesters said the demolition was long overdue after several discountenance over the site of the cenotaph.
The protesters, among which were youths and market women, led by some traditionalists in the community, also condemned Betty-Anyanwu Akeredolu, the widow of the late Governor over his utterances on Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye for backing the demolition.
Mrs Akeredolu, on Wednesday stormed the tomb of her husband in Owo, and condemned the demolition of the memorial park, accusing Oba Ogunoye of destroying the project and legacies of the late Akeredolu.
The former First Lady also described the Owo monarch, whom he claimed was installed by the late Akeredolu as a ‘baby Oba’.
Speaking on behalf of the protestors, one of the chiefs of Owo, Idowu Olakunori, lambasted Mrs Akeredolu, saying the former first lady was disrespectful to the monarch for his utterance.
“She (Mrs Akeredolu) disrespected the community. Whatever point she had, she should have been cautious. We cannot allow anybody to disrespect our Oba.
“She called our oba, ‘baby oba’, She has desecrated our land and cultures with such language. Whoever disrespects our king won’t go free. It is erroneously bad and barbaric to be calling our monarch such names.
“I don’t want to go further by referring to one’s place of birth, but in our clime here, we respect our traditional institutions and hold them in very high esteem,” he said.
Olakunri added: “Now, she spoke about Aketi’s legacy. Aketi was never a local person. He was a national person, and he had legacies all over the place. Among the legacies he left behind is the Amotekun, which is protecting in the entire Yoruba race.
“So when you are talking of some kind of a legacy, it’s a legacy that is almost without a doubt. Not the one that disrespects the culture and the traditional institutions.
“Our people have come out today to show their anger. Nobody, irrespective of where you came from, should be allowed to disrespect their legacy place.”
