The video of a middle-aged man who claimed to be the son of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, has surfaced online.
In the video, the man who did not identify himself, claimed the monarch hid him with his mother with an instruction that he should stay discreet.
“Oba Enitan Ogunwunsi is my father. He hid me with my mother with a clear instruction that I must not reveal myself,” the man dressed in a white Agbada said in Yoruba.
The palace of the monarch has, however, debunked his claims describing him as an impersonator.
The man further claimed that the monarch’s silence on his identity as a prince compelled him to make the video.
“Anytime I desire to come to the palace, he (Ooni) would stop me saying it was not yet time. Now is the time. My mum might not talk, but I will say the truth. The king is my biological father.
“Though I’m not suffering; there is a house, cars are there, there is money, but I’m no longer interested in them. I want to be known as the son of the king, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II,” he added.
He, however, gave a two-month ultimatum to be invited to the palace, or he will reveal more secrets.
Reacting to the video on Thursday, Moses Olafare, the spokesman to the Ooni in a statement stated that the matter had been reported to security agencies for further action.
Olafare said Oba Ogunwusi, being a responsible father and custodian of tradition, knows and acknowledges all his children and would stop at nothing to take full responsibility for them.
He declared that the self-acclaimed prince is unknown to the palace and the Ile-Ife populace, saying “He is not a child of Ooni Ogunwusi as fraudulently claimed, but also never related in any way to any lineage of the Ogunwusi royal family and the Giesi Royal Compound of Ile-Ife at large.”
Olafare also called on the said impersonator to refrain from engaging in or promoting such deceptive practices, assuring that the House of Oduduwa remains committed to preserving the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people and would not tolerate any attempt to undermine or tarnish its legacy through fraudulent means.
