Centuries ago, monarchs in Nigeria were known to wield enormous spiritual and physical powers. However, insecurity is gradually weakening the ‘power’ of the crown, making traditional rulers victims of violent attacks, gruesome killings and kidnapping, VICTOR AYENI writes

Amid the haze of the harmattan on Monday, January 29, 2024, a car conveying three Ekiti monarchs glided across the landscape of the Ajoni Local Government Area of Ekiti State, on a road framed by thick bushes on both sides.

The Elesun of Esun-Ekiti, Oba David Ogunsakin; the Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti, Oba Samuel Olatunji, and the Alara of Ara-Ekiti, Oba Adebayo Fatoba, were on their way from a security meeting held in Irele-Ekiti on the fateful day when armed assailants suddenly emerged from the forest and charged at them.

With cold and calculated brutality, the assailants opened fire at the vehicle, killing two of the monarchs – the Onimojo of Imojo-Ekiti, and the Elesun of Esun-Ekiti. The third monarch, Alara of Ara-Ekiti, was said to have survived the attack.2.6M

Graphic video footage seen by our correspondent on Thursday showed the body of Oba Olatunji carried by young men onto a pickup van with blood flowing from his wounds.

The distraught wife of the slain Elesun of Esun-Ekiti, Mrs Yetunde Ogunsakin, said she became worried when she called her husband hours into the journey but did not get an answer.

“He called me when he reached Ajowa that he was coming, that he was hungry and I should prepare something for him.

Checks by Saturday PUNCH showed that the latest attacks demonstrated a pattern of killings and kidnappings targeted towards traditional rulers across the country.

In July last year, the traditional ruler of the Nguru community in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, Eze James Nnamdi, was shot dead at his palace when some gunmen invaded his home.

A month earlier, suspected gunmen kidnapped the Oba of Idofin, Shedrack Obibeni, and his wife, in the Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State.

In January 2022, suspected hoodlums killed and burnt the traditional ruler of Agodo village in Ewekoro, Ogun State, Ayinde Odetola, beyond recognition.

In December of the same year, armed bandits attacked and killed the district head of Yankuzo, Alhaji Hamza Kogo, of Tsafe Emirate in Zamfara State during a failed attempt to abduct him.

Another tragic incident occurred in October 2021, when gunmen opened fire on traditional rulers who were having a stakeholders’ meeting at the council headquarters at Nnenasa in the Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State.

The affected monarchs were Eze E. A. Duruburuo, who is the Obi of Okwudor; and Eze Sampson Osunwa of the Ihebinowere autonomous community.

In November 2020, gunmen murdered a prominent traditional ruler in Ondo State, the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adeusi, at the Elegbeka community along the Ifon-Benin highway.

Oba Adeusi was said to be returning to his town from Akure, where he had gone for a meeting with other frontline traditional rulers when he was kidnapped and killed by bandits.

According to a 2021 report by a geopolitical research consultancy, SBM Intelligence, in the decade since November 2011, 53 traditional rulers have been killed in various violent incidents across Nigeria.

“This unfortunate trend appears to be accelerating as 35 of them were killed in the second half of the decade in review, that is between 2016 and now, while the incidents in which those killings happened have become more violent,” it added.

Waning socio-political powers

Democracy, defined by the United Nations, as a system of governance that “provides an environment that respects human rights and fundamental freedoms” and guarantees that “women and men have equal rights,” has been identified as one of the factors that changed the face of monarchy in Nigeria.

An Ifa priest, Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, lamented that many monarchs had abandoned traditional means of protection, thus rendering them vulnerable to physical attacks.

He said, “We do have traditional means of protection in Yorubaland. It is just that the foreign religions that were embraced by Yoruba traditional rulers have rendered them powerless.

“Most of the monarchs did not go through the necessary rites and rituals, and therefore, they lacked the necessary protection like charms that could make someone disappear and reappear, charms that can free someone from clutches when held. They only rely on foreign religions for protection.

For Elebuibon Nigerian monarchs should not be kidnapped “anyhow” if they are immune and they embrace traditional things.

“Before a king sets out on a journey, there are things he must do. He must be able to see ahead if it is a journey he should embark on. He must have a spiritual guardian, but they have abolished all that,” he added in an interview with The PUNCH.

Speaking further, the Ifa priest also said many kings had become soft targets for criminals after dumping customary rites for Western civilisation, thereby making them spiritually powerless.

“Traditional rulers are now under the whim of political godfathers. Back then, you would hardly see our kings out there, but nowadays, you see our Yoruba kings attending different kinds of parties that they are not expected to be seen at.

“In the past, monarchs offered sacrifices but you will see them in modern times frowning at this and saying, ‘I’m a Christian’ or ‘I’m a Muslim.’ Why are you vying for traditional offices when you can’t follow the due rites? This is why they have become weakened,” he said.

Some traditional rulers have in recent times been seen attending public programmes organised by religious organisations. A recent video on social media showed some Yoruba monarchs and singing and dancing at an event organised by a popular Pentecostal church. This, Agbabiaka said, reduced kings to the downtrodden.

“You see our traditional rulers going to churches and mosques, bowing before pastors. I am saddened by the gradual downfall of the monarchs in Yoruba land.

“Yet, as I rightly assert, our ancestors embellished them with the identities of the Gods and the supernatural, but they’ve distanced themselves and are now downtrodden. They have failed to renew their protective rites and ended up rendering themselves powerless,” he added.

Similarly, a traditional naturopathist, Sesan Adewusi, argued that certain mundane practices have neutered innate supernatural powers.

Despite the attendant controversies from both sides, several Christians and Muslims have become traditional leaders across the country.

Although the Olu of Warri in Delta State, Ogiame Atuwatse III, performed the traditional rituals before ascending the throne, many see him as a Christian monarch due to certain changes he made in how the palace activities are run.

When he received the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Olaoye (a former pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God), in his palace in Warri last year, he stated that traditional thrones and Christianity were not necessarily antithetical to each other.

Debunking the assumption that traditional institutions were synonymous with superstition and the worship of creatures, the Olu of Warri said the two institutions could play a complementary role that would contribute to the growth and development of the country.

The monarch, according to a statement issued by his media consultant, Adeniyi Ifetayo, stated, “We have a divine obligation to lead in righteousness, justice, and fairness, equity, are not empty abstractions but compelling ideals.

 “Only when driven by a singular commitment to these ideals can we lead our people into visible, functional development materially, mentally and spiritually.”

Similarly, the Soun of Ogbomoso who was installed on September 8, 2023, after reportedly completing the necessary traditional rites, has also been designated as a Christian monarch.

In 2017, an RCCG pastor was crowned as Oba Gabriel Adejuwon, the Onisan of the Isan kingdom, the hometown of the former governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi.

In 2012, another RCCG pastor, Kehinde Olugbenle, also became the new Olu of Ilaro and paramount ruler of the Yewa-Awori axis of Ogun State.

Conversely, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi, who has been described as “one of the most controversial monarchs” in the country since he was installed in 2016, openly identified with Islam.

Clerics denounce ‘pagan’ rituals

Commenting on whether Christians could merge their faith with traditional monarchy, the pastor of Multiply Christian Network, Daniel Okunoye, told our correspondent that for an individual to be a monarch, he must not partake in traditional rites.

“One can be a king but one must also know how to separate oneself from the defiling influences of traditional rituals. If you check the Bible, you will find out that Daniel and other godly people separated themselves from the pagan rituals of the land of Babylon.

“When the late Alaafin of Oyo died and I went to give a keynote, I said, ‘Why couldn’t we have a discipline called Alaafinology of Obaship?’

“This is because knowledge has depth and resources, and by converting it into a discipline, it would do precisely what others have done in other cultures – create theories that others can use.”