Pro-Egbedun Protesters Accuse Alasi Of Misappropriating Town’s Funds
- Protesters Are ‘Rent-A-Crowd’ – Sources Allege
A handful residents of Asi in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State on Thursday morning protested against the monarch of the town, Oba Isaac Oyewale, over what they described as his incessant verbal attack on the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr Adewale Egbedun.
The residents, who were mostly youths, were seen in some videos obtained by OSUN DEFENDER protesting at the palace of Alasi.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that Oba Oyewale had petitioned the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone XI, Osogbo, claiming that the lawmaker allegedly threatened his life.
But in his reaction, Egbedun said contrary to the petition, it was the monarch who had threatened violence against him.
Addressing some people believed to be traditional chiefs at the palace, the protesters, who were armed with placards, urged the monarch to refrain from denigrating the speaker.
One of the youths who did not mention his name in the video said no harm must befall the speaker.
“We, the youth, want the monarch to come out and tell us what Egbedun did to him. He is fond of saying bad things about the speaker. Nothing must happen to Egbedun and his family.
“Egbedun is our golden son, and we won’t allow Kabiesi’s self-interest to cause any harm to him. Alasi should leave Egbedun alone. Egbedun has done a lot for the king. Nothing must happen to Egbedun and his family. The youth of Asi are behind the Egbedun,” the youth said.
Another youth who spoke in the video alleged that the monarch was fighting Egbedun because the speaker asked a committee he (monarch) set up to account for how they spent the sum of N19.6m realised during the annual Asi day.
“We are not here to cause problems. We are here to tell you that our Kabiesi should stop his constant denigration of Egbedun. Egbedun is our golden son, and he has brought countless developments to this town since he became the speaker.
“The truth must be told so that people will know what really transpired.
“This whole thing started after we had our annual town day celebration where we realised N19.6m. After the event, the monarch set up a committee and said the money would be used to build an ultra-modern shopping complex.
“Unfortunately, we only saw some shops which are not even completed up till now and the committee claimed they have exhausted all the money. When the speaker got to know about this, he called for an audit but they were unable to give a proper account of how the money was spent. This is the genesis of the crisis,” the youth who did not also mentioned his name said.
However, some sources in the town alleged that the protesters are a ‘rent-a-crowd.’
The sources claimed that the protesters were ‘paid’ by the loyalists of the Speaker, to court public opinion and dissuade the growing public sentiment against Egbedun.
As at the time of filing this report, Oba Oyewale is yet to make any public statement about the allegations of the protesters nor responded to Egbedun’s reaction.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
