The Alara of Ilara Mokin, HRM Oba Abiodun Aderemi Adefehinti, who was chased out of the palace at Ilara Mokin in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State, has returned and appealed to the youth of the town to allow peace to reign.
Oba Adefehinti was some days ago chased out of the palace by some youths of the community for allegedly not participating in the traditional new yam festival.
It was reported that the youth were infuriated by the failure of Oba Adefehinti to perform his royal function during the festival, following his claim of becoming a born again Christian.
For this reason, the monarch and his wife were chased out of the palace by the protesting youths, who threw stones at the palace, injuring the king’s spouse in the process.
Speaking at his palace after his return on Saturday, the traditional ruler said the Ijesu festival was the most important annual celebration for the sons and daughters of Ilara Mokin, but explained that he could not participate in it this year for obvious reasons.
Oba Adefehinti, who denied turning against the traditional festivals of the town after becoming a born again Christian, explained that as a result of his age, he no longer had the energy to dance and walk round the community as he used to.
He said, “As I am advancing in age, I informed my people that I might not be able to lead them on the marathon dance round the town as the festival demands, which I have faithfully done over the past 21 years.
“Secondly, we had to change the spot for the Idasu (yam harvesting); the reason for this is that the location we used to perform the ritual belongs to an individual, who wants to use his land for a building purpose; the land was in the bush before, but physical development has caught up with it.
“Now that we have got a new palace, I advised that we could be doing the Idasu within the palace, which serves as a permanent site till the world ends.”
According to him, all the chiefs agreed to the changes and called a town hall meeting of the community on September 11, 2019, two days before the new yam festival to inform the indigenes of the new development.
Noting that normalcy had returned to the community, the monarch said he was committed to the peace and progress of the town, and urged the sons and daughters to join hands with him to move Ilara Mokin forward.