Kushemi-Moses Family Raises the Alarm over Communal Clash, Appeals to Sanwo-Olu to Intervene

Innocent Megbolu

The royal family of Kushemi-Moses of Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday, appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to urgently intervene in the Obaship tussle in Ikeja Kingdom to avert communal clash and bloodshed.

Within the past seven years the stool of Oba of Ikeja has remained vacant after the death of the former king, Oba Raufu Matele Amore, who died on July 1, 2014.

The family of Kushemi-Moses through their family Chairman, Leke Moses said they were taken aback by trending videos showing an installation of a new Oba in Ikeja.

He said: “Unexpectedly, our attention has been drawn to the trending videos, news on social media, and some national dailies on the installment of Oba in Ikeja by some people who want to cause breakdown of law and order in the town.

“The purported installation of this person, according to them, was done by three selected royal families of Ikeja.

“How can you install a first class Oba in Lagos State without the involvement of all the royal families, the kingmakers, the chiefs, the local government chairman and of course the governor of the dstate whose seat of office is in the town of Ikeja?”

They cautioned those parading themselves as Oba-elect or royal families, who purportedly elected an “illegal person as Oba in Ikeja”, to desist from such activities.

Moses said that such act could jeopardise the existing peace in the area and elicit divisions amongst the indigenes. “Obaship stool is a traditional position, therefore, it should not be partisan,” he emphasised.

He said that due process must be taken into consideration to allow peace to reign.

Moses threatened that any illegal act of selection will result in further legal battle.

“According to history, those who founded Ikeja town were Oshoja, Amori the late Olu of Ikeja known as Amore, Iyade-ilo, Kushemi Moses and Balogun who still have their footprints on ground through their descendants.

“Amori and Amore families have had their turn so this is the turn of the Kushemi-Moses family. The said usurper does not belong to any of the above families as such cannot be installed as an Oba,” he said.

According to him, the family would not fold their arms without taking actions to prevent usurpers from claiming what belongs to the founding fathers of Ikeja land.