Alleged $180,000 fraud: Ooni disowns marriage, calls for arrest of accuser
By Jeleel Olawale, Ile-ife
The Palace of the Ooni of Ife has decried news which has made rounds on social media about an alleged $180,000 fraud committed by Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi.
In a statement made available to Nigerian NewsDirect, by the Director of Media and Public Affairs, Otunba Moses Olafare on Thursday in Ile-Ife, the Palace noted that it “is not unaware of a trending fake news about one Ms Fagbule purportedly swindled of 180,000 dollars allegedly by our father; Arole Oduduwa Olofin Adimula, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, CFR, Ojaja II, The Ooni of Ife.”
“It is worrisome the level at which ladies have been making themselves victims of marriage frauds on internet despite our several warnings to the general public particularly ladies whose ultimate ambition were to become queens of the Ooni by all means to beware of the internet marriage proposal scammers who could only capitalise on their gullibility driven desperation.
“It is not in our tradition to respond to fake news like this posted and promoted by a criminal faceless source through Twitter (Now X) account.
“It has become so imperative this time around to make this response for necessary clarifications in order to calm the inundation of the genuine concerns expressed by subjects, friends and lovers of the Ooni globally on this matter. The following assertions are hereby made for necessary clarifications:
“That the news as posted by a Twitter (now X) handle called “99% OPPRESSED” is fake, untrue and absolutely an unfounded allegation only adopted as a nugatory character assassination tactic aimed at achieving a cheap popularity with a view to drawing huge followers/traffic for avaricious monetization from Twitter (X).
“That the so-called Mrs Fagbule was and is never known to the Ooni of Ife for any interpersonal communication or relationship whatsoever, talk less of being so promised with a marriage proposal. That Ooni Adeyeye does not operate any Facebook account personally.
“He runs the palace as an institutional organisation with a functional media directorate which has a section that operates his social media handles; Instagram, Facebook etc. That If truly the lady so mentioned as Ms Fagbule is from Osun State or Ile-Ife in particular, why didn’t she come to the palace to meet Ooni in person throughout their so called relationship?
“That, rather than taking her matter to the appropriate agencies like EFCC and the Police for professional investigation which could have adequately helped her, she chose to make it a social media brouhaha.”
“For whatever reason she preferred social media and human rights platforms to the Police and EFCC who are so professionally trained, shouldn’t she have engaged a credible mainstream media organisation; Print and Electronic, or consulted credible Human Right crusaders like CDHR, Femi Falana Chambers and their likes in the country who undoubtedly possess qualities of a tested capacity and passion for applying principles of justice and fairness in their efforts of thorough investigation in any matter of injustice against the oppressed.
“She rather chose an unscrupulous faceless Twitter (X) handler who is not identified beyond ‘99% OPPRESSED.’ That the said letter of marriage proposal so paraded on the Twitter (X) handle of the so called ‘99% OPPRESSED’ alleged to have emanated from the Ooni is a fabrication of lies from the pit of hell, as the Letterhead used for the letter does not reflect the originality of our official letterhead used at the palace for official correspondences. And that the body of the letter does not grammatically reflect Ooni’s personally signed letters in any way.”
Olafare stressed that “with the Ooni’s status in wealth, business success, philanthropy and highly revered royalty, to allege or even suggest that he would be collecting money from any lady for travel expenses and others in exchange for marriage with a huge portfolio of billions of Naira being handled by Ooni Ogunwusi for humanity can only be viewed by reasonable people in the society as a figment of the imagination of Mrs Fagbule and her social media Messiah.l (99% Oppressed).”
He averred that “if the lady truly has a genuine case of marriage proposal fraud against anyone whether or not it affects the name of the Ooni, she is hereby invited to the palace in Ile-Ife to physically meet the Ooni for his fatherly assistance with the help of the Law enforcement agencies to uncover the perpetrators of this inhuman crime against her, helping her in cracking down the fraudster who had wickedly defrauded her as we have had so many cases so successfully handled in the past.”
“For the umpteenth time, the Ile Oodua Palace of the Ooni of Ife wishes to advise all persons globally to be carefully conscious of their engagements particularly in the social media as the Ooni does not interface with anyone via the internet/social media or appoint proxies to do so.
“Contrary to the fake letter being dangled as evidence in the media, the Palace’s letterhead is unique and familiar to corporate bodies, personalities, other recipients and prospective recipients alike, with the Ooni’s signature as the ‘Arole Oduduwa Olofin Adimula’ and not ‘His Imperial Majesty.’”
