LAGOS – Oba Saheed Ademola (Kusenla III) of Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom has debunked claim of fixing the Oro cult ritual to conflict with the Lagos State governorship election scheduled to hold on Saturday, March 18, GWG reports
The Oro festival is an event that celebrates male descendants of a specific location where it is taking place. During the festival, females and non-indigenes are expected to stay away and remain indoors as according to folklore the Oro must not be seen by women and non-indigenes.
In a memo addressed to residents of Ikate-Elegushi, the Lagos State Oba said there would be restriction of movement to perform the Oro rite in the community from Wednesday, March 15, to Friday, March 17 and that women and non-indigenes should stay indoors between midnight to 5am daily.
In a statement debunking the claim that the Oro was being held as part of a plot to disenfranchise non-indigenes from voting on election day, Temitope Oyefeso, the special assistant on media affairs to the Ikate Kingdom’s monarch, said;
“The restriction of movement for the Oro rites in Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom, Eti-Osa is from Wednesday to Friday, Election Day is not included.
“The restriction is from 12 midnight to 5 am on each day, while residents are free to move before and after this time. This clarification is necessary for those peddling falsehood as to the motive for the rites. The peace and progress of our land is the responsibility of all of us and we must be alive to this responsibility,” the Oba’s media aide said in explaining what had been asssumed as an election day Oro in Lagos. (GWG.ng)
