Hoodlums Disrupt Lagos Monarch’s Coronation Ceremony

• Rob Guests, Many Left Injured

At least, one person whose identity was yet to be disclosed has been reported dead following the invasion of the palace of Oloto of Oto Awori Kingdom, Oba Josiah Aina.

It would be recalled that on Thursday, August 25, 2022, some hoodlums attacked guests and disrupted the celebration of Oba Aina’s 15th year coronation anniversary.

The celebration was ongoing when the hoodlums, who were armed with weapons, attacked and robbed residents of the community of their valuables.

Eyewitnesses claimed that the assailants leveraged the tension created to attack the palace, where the celebration was ongoing.

Speaking on the incident, a resident who identified himself as Sunday said the hoodlums burgled and looted shops during their invasion.

“We didn’t know how the whole situation escalated to this extent. I was here till 11 pm on Wednesday and there was no sign of a possible attack. It was this morning that they came with different weapons.

“They started by looting people’s shops and destroying their goods. You can see the whole road littered with broken bottles. They also forced their way into peoples’ houses and destroyed their properties,” he added.

Confirming that the palace was attacked, Balogun of the Kingdom, Rufus Ifatosin expressed conviction that the attack was planned.

He alleged that the hoodlums disrupted the coronation activity in spite of the fact that the monarch gave them money.

“The boys from the Ijanikin community came with masquerade on Sunday to request money and our Kabiyesi gave them N200,000, but they started fighting over it on their way out.

“They have been fighting since then. But what happened this morning came as a surprise to us. They almost wounded our Kabiyesi when they invaded the palace,” the Balogun added.

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin said while one person died from the incident, normalcy had been restored in the community.