The protracted kingship tussle in Kirikiri, Oriade Local Council Development Area (LCDA) has been laid to rest following the affirmation of Chief Anthony Folami as Baale.
Folami was recognised in a letter from the Ministry of Local Government dated March 10 and addressed to the Chairman, Oriade LCDA, in response to a petition on alleged acts of impunity, usurpation of traditional stool, breach of public peace and communal violence against one Babalola Shabi.
The Afriupdate reports that the two ruling houses in Kirikiri-Agunbiade and Folami ruling houses- had through their lawyers, Taiwo Lakanu & Co. petitioned the state over the alleged usurpation of their traditional stool by Shabi, alleged to be a stranger from Ijebu Ode.
The ruling houses in their petition argued that they were the only royal families in the community, tracing their ancestry to Chief Tumbulu who became the first Baale of Kirikiri Town in 1893.
According to them, Shabi was not a member of any of the ruling houses and only “wandered” into Ebute (waterside) area of Kirikiri Town to make a living by assisting sand dredgers and sand buyers load their tippers.
The petitioners claimed it was during this time that Shabi met Gilbert Cardoso, an Omonile in Kirikiri, who allegedly accommodated him as an “errand boy.”
Continuing, the ruling houses alleged that upon Cardoso’s death, Shabi made himself prime agent of the family lands but was eventually removed by the Cardoso family.
Shabi, they claimed, allegedly manipulated the system and pronounced himself Baale with the help of some Local Government officials, the petitioners claimed.
Following the petitions, the state government constituted a committee to investigate the allegations raised which discovered that indeed there were only two ruling houses in the community.
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