Lifestyle

Ikareland Prays for Solution to Coronavirus

By Web News 741

There was an inter-religious prayers at the palace of Owa-Ale of Ikare Akoko, against the coronavirus pandemic as a substitute for the popular annual Aringiya Festival which was supposed to hold today in the ancient city but was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The maiden festival was cancelled for this year due to the government’s directive on social distancing to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

During the prayers held by few religious leaders, the Owa-Ale of Ikare, Oba Kolapo Adegbite-Adedoyin urged Nigerians especially Muslims, to use the ongoing Ramadan fast to seek the face of God for an early cure to the disease.

Oba Adegbite-Adedoyin said the Aringiya festival which has been used to celebrate maidens in the town for about 800 years now, was shelved this year in the interest of the people, as it usually attracted a large crowd.

The monarch who prayed for all inhabitants, sons and daughters of Ikareland, home and abroad, also sought God’s guidance for President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in running the affairs of the country and Ondo state.

Owa-Ale advised the political class to imbibe tolerance and decorum for a hitch-free governorship election in the state which is set for October 10, this year.

Leke Adegbite

Lifestyle

Mass Burial: Fear Grips Residents of Ikare-Akoko

By Web News 2576

There is palpable apprehension in the ancient town of Ikare-Akoko in Akoko North East area of Ondo State over plans by the state government to carry out mass burial for over one hundred abandoned dead bodies in the area.

Radio Nigeria gathered that the corpses were brought to the town by health officials of the state government from different parts of the state without the prior consent of community leaders and local government authorities.

Confirming the development, the caretaker Chairman of Akoko North-East Local Government, Mr Asimi Omojola, said he was not in the office when the corpses were moved to Ikare for mass burial, but he confirmed an official of the Ondo State Health Management Board (HMB) had contacted him about the situation.

The two traditional rulers of the town, Olukare of Ikare, Oba Akadiri Saliu-Momoh and the Owa-Ale of Ikare, Oba Kolapo Adegbite-Adedoyin, described the situation as strange to the culture and norms of the community.

In separate interviews, the two monarchs warned that Ikare people would not allow the corpses to be buried on their land as it could lead to traditional crises and abominable incidences.

Reacting, the Chief Medical Director, CMD of Ikare State Specialist Hospital, Dr Ayodele Ogunlade, stressed that Ore, Akure and Ikare were designated for the mass burial of the abandoned corpses, adding that it had no health implication as all the corpses had been treated with the necessary chemicals. 

Leke Adegbite