Fire: Ooni’s Palace Intact – Spokesperson

The spokesperson to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, Comrade Moses Olafare has said that the reported fire outbreak at the palace of the front line monarch on Wednesday was a ‘minor’ one.

Olafare in a statement said contrary to widespread reports especially on the social media, the incident which affected a tiny part of one of the administrative buildings left no harm to the oldest palace in Yoruba land.

He stated that collective efforts from men of the state fire service including those in the palace put off the fire in no distant time.

OSUN DEFENDER had earlier reported how the inferno gutted one of the buildings in the palace on Wednesday afternoon.

Olafare said “The Palace of the Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, wishes to inform the entire public that a minor fire outbreak involving a tiny part of one of the administrative buildings within the premises of the palace occurred at about 1:15pm today, Wednesday 19th, August 2020, leaving no harm to the oldest palace in Yoruba land.

“The minor inferno which lasted for about 20 minutes was immediately put out by collective efforts of people in the palace led by the Ooni’s Chief Security, Kolawole Emmanuel, later joined by men of the fire services from the state government, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife..

“Aside from the fact that there was no causality whatsoever, the fire was just a minor occurrence which was nothing to be compared to the misleading huge pictures being painted in the media, particularly the social media.

“While it is suspected to have emanated from an electric spark, measures are currently in place to reveal the cause of the inferno.

“We wish to thank men of the Osun State Fire service, Obafemi Awolowo University Fire Service and OAUTH Fire Service for their swift response, while efforts of well meaning Nigerians who reached out to the Palace for objective analysis are equally appreciated.

“Once again, the ancient Palace of Ife remains as rich as before in culture, traditions and tourism.”