Amid denial, Ooni’s remains may have arrived Ile-Ife

The remains of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade may have arrived the ancient city, although the Royal Traditional Council (RTC) of Ife, maintained that he was still alive.
It was gathered that the body of the late monarch arrived at the palace in the early hours of Saturday.
The source old Punch that , “One of the sons of the Ooni travelled to the United Kingdom on Tuesday when the incident happened and I was told that he was part of the entourage that accompanied the body back to Nigeria. The body was said to have been brought back to the palace in the early hours of Saturday.
“I did not see it myself but I was told that the body had arrived. Although the cutting of the tree and the closure of market which are some of the signs of mourning have not been done, there are some other indications that the body might have arrived.
“Security has been beefed up and nobody is allowed to access the inner part of the palace. The body will not be kept where just anybody can see it and only the male children of the Ooni and some high chiefs can see the body.”
Meanwhile, amid speculations that the wedding ceremony of the Ooni’s son, Adegbite Sijuwade, might be cancelled, the younger Sijuwade, on Saturday, shared a photograph of himself and his bride-to-be, Dolapo, on his Instagram page and wrote, “Sunday August 2nd.”
The wedding ceremony holds in Lagos today.
Read also: Ooni of Ife not dead, says Traditional Council
The post had attracted congratulatory messages from his followers.
Despite the denials of the king’s demise by palace chiefs, Oro festival has begun in the ancient town on Friday night.
Oro is a deity worshipped across Yorubaland, which forbids women from going outdoors at night during the festival.
There was disagreement between residents of Ile-Ife yesterday on the reason behind the on-going Oro festival in the town which entered its third day today.
Although palace sources in Ife said that the festival, which would last for seven nights, had nothing to do with the demise of the Ooni, the public believe otherwise, many people of the ancient town, believed the announcement of the festival may have been preparatory to the formal announcement of the passage of Ooni.

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