Oba Joseph Olugbenga Oloyede
By Akeem Atoyebi
The whereabouts of Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Olugbenga Oloyede remains unknown, , as concerned residents and indigenes of the community said to be in the dark , have allegedly called for for the intervention of the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to unravel the mysterious vanishing of the monarch.
Oba Oloyede, a United States of America-based accountant and information system expert, was appointed new Apetu in July 2019.
He succeeded Oba James Adegoke, who died on November 26, 2017.
It was learnt that the monarch had been regularly travelling between Nigeria and his base in the US since his installation.
However, since March 2024 that he left his domain, he has not been seen, fueling speculations about his whereabouts.
The residents of the town are divided on the mystery behind his disappearance. Many who spoke with this medium said he might be resting in the United States from stress, others believed he may have been arrested and facing trial for fraud. The royal father was said to have been last seen in March 2024
A chief in Ipetumodu, who craved anonymity stated that many chiefs, including the Oosa of Ipetumodu, who is next in line to Apetu, had stopped going to the palace.
He noted that , “It’s been close to a year now that we have not seen our king in the town.”
“Last December, we were told he would come back to town before January ended, but it’s now February and we haven’t seen him. It was the IPU Chairman, Joba Akinjogbe, that spoke on behalf of the king during this year’s Christian annual prayer.
“But on the day of the prayer, we saw someone that looked like our monarch on screen through a projector. But we didn’t see his face. He told the gathering that he was not in prison and promised to come back by January ending.
“In 2024, we were told he was sick but since then, we have not seen him in town and nobody knows where he is,” he added.
The chief lamented that before the monarch disappeared, he demolished the “ancient palace” and promised to build a modern one.
“He was not living in the palace. He was staying at his private residence. We told him then that it’s not proper to demolish the entire palace. But now, the entire old palace has been demolished even in his absence. The court was also demolished.
“Some chiefs, led by the Asalu, Sunday Adedeji, are still going to the palace to hold meetings. But the Oosa, who is the second in command to the king, and four others, including myself, are no longer going there for meetings.
“During the last event when the king was projected on screen, a lot of residents said that it was fake and insisted that the only thing they wanted was for the king to come back to the town,” he added.
Credit: The Punch
