* President, Omo Ibile Igbomina, Engineer Timothy Adebayo, with microphone and flanked by some executive officers of the Kwara state socio-cultural group,addressing the press in Ilorin


By Steve Oni,  Ilorin

 A socio-cultural group in Kwara state, Omo Ibile Igbomina, has disowned one Warri, Delta state-based legal practitioner, Rufus Olarewaju for parading himself as the Oba Igbomina Kingdom.

 Accordingly, the group is therefore urging the police and other security agents to
arrest and prosecute the ‘fake’ Oba in a court of competent
jurisdiction.

 Addressing journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, on Thursday, the President, Omo Ibile Igbomina, Engineer Timothy Adebayo, disclosed that Mr. Olarewaju had recently claimed in one of the dailies that he is the ‘Obagbaja Arolagbade ii, Oba of Gbomina kingdom.’

 Adebayo said : “The whole racket would have been dismissed for a mere monkey business, but for our knowledge of his background. He is an Igbomina individual from Rore in Irepodun local government area of Kwara state.

 “In the said publication, he claimed he is the Oba of Gbomina-Ekiti Kingdom. He went further to purportedly give historical narration of Igbomina people albeit disjointedly and full of fabrications and lies.

 “He also attempted a revisionist history of the Yoruba race where he claimed Yoruba is the official language in the Garden of Eden. He concluded by saying that he has created an ‘Gbomina-Ekiti Development Fund for which N2.5 billion has been deposited for the provision of road network in his imaginary Gbomina-Ekiti Kingdom.

 “It is pertinent to state abinitio that there is no territory known as
Gbomina-Ekiti kingdom. It does not exist neither in Kwara nor Osun state where we have the Igbomina people.

 “Therefore, Mr. Olarewaju's Gbomina-Ekiti is a figment of his own imagination and a fiction created to dupe and swindle people and institutions who are oblivious of these facts.”

 The Omo Ibile Igbomina added that “the entire sons and daughters of Igbomina, home and abroad dissociate themselves from the contents and forms of the claims.

 “We call on the law enforcement agencies to investigate the claim. We equally call on the police to arrest and prosecute Mr. Olarewaju to protect the larger society from falling victims and for the serial crimes he has been committing using non-existing traditional institution and impersonating kings and dynasties.

 “As at today, the only association that combines Ekiti and Igbomina in the state is the Kwara South Consultative Forum.”