.....My community leaders after my life
At the moment, Oladipo Mutiu Olawale is not a particularly happy man. He has fled his hometown, a major community in Osun State (name of town withheld by us), in order to be far away from his kinsmen, especially those he claims are planning to lure him into some secret cult. Read more
The young man said he abandoned his birthplace because he didn't want to be involved in what he described as a fetish tradition. He accused his kinsmen and community leaders of attempting to foist a traditional title on him, saying they also wanted him to join a cult.
Already, Oladipo has reported his ordeal to the Nigeria police, stating in clear terms that he didn’t want to be coerced into accepting the title, which he claimed the chiefs in his town were imposing on him.
The Nigeria Police, Area ‘F’ command, Lagos in its station diary extract, stated that Oladipo Mutiu Olawale was at the station with a duly sworn affidavit to complain that he was being forced to take a traditional title, and that his life was no longer safe.
Meanwhile, a member of the chiefs-in-council that are insisting on making Oladipo the new Asipa, the traditional title in question, has said it was mandatory for the young man to accept his fate.
The old man who craved anonymity told Daily Sun: “Olawale has been chosen by the gods to be our next Asipa. It should have been his father but the man died late last year and so it behooves the eldest son, which is Olawale to take up the duty. And there won’t be compromise on our part. No one wants him dead, but he has to heed the call of his ancestors.”
But sounding resolute and unyielding, Oladipo told the reporter: “In my family we embrace Christianity and Islam, although many of our folk’s resident at home are of the traditional religion.
“I am a Muslim and I do not embrace the traditional religion of my people. I have chosen Islam and I will only worship Allah. Those in traditional religious practice are into Ifa divination. In my lineage, we have the Asipa chieftaincy title inherited from our forefathers.
“My people want me to accept the traditional title and office because they reckoned that my fair level of education and exposure would be useful in the office. The title of Asipa is one of the powerful offices in our traditional society and it involves joining secret cults and doing fetish things. I have been pressurized to accept the offer since 2012, shortly after the former Asipa died.
“My ailing father was to naturally be given the title but the people said that it would be my turn to become the Asipa if the old man died. So, when my father eventually died last November, the traditional chiefs came for me and demanded that I release myself to become the new Asipa. They told me that since the Asipa title is usually held by my family, I have to become the next Asipa and join all the cults and traditional societies. But I told them I couldn't do that because it negates my faith. So they went to meet with members of my family and instructed them to prevail on me to accept the title. They are insisting that it is a must for me to accept to be the next Asipa.
“Members of my family have been divided over the issue. Some are supporting the chiefs who want me to be Asipa by force while others are on my side. But even the few ones supporting me are afraid to publicly declare their support.
“The chiefs just believe that they can impose the title on me. Even my explanation that it negates my faith and the fact that imposing the title on me would mean that they want to infringe on my fundamental human rights as a citizen of Nigeria fell on deaf ears. They have been issuing very dangerous warnings, threatening that they would deal with me if I continue to ignore them. They have continued to issue threats. One of the statements they used to threaten me is that something terrible would happen to me if I disobeyed them.
“In as much as I don’t want the family to think that I’m blackmailing them, I just want them to leave me alone. I don’t want to be involved in anything fetish as my faith is against it and I want them to let me be.”
Culled from The Sun newspaper
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