Ooni Of Ife Backs Ex-Queen Amid Legal Battle Over Funfair Tragedy

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has expressed solidarity with his ex-queen, Naomi Silekunola, as she faces legal challenges over the tragic stampede that claimed the lives of 35 children during a Christmas funfair she organised in Ibadan, Oyo State, on December 4.

Naijaonpoint reports that Oba Ogunwusi absolved Silekunola of any malicious intent, describing her initiative as a well-meaning effort to bring joy to underprivileged children during the festive season.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Otunba Moses Olafare, the monarch said, “Her intention was to spread happiness and uplift the spirits of children.”

Silekunola, alongside the proprietor of Agidigbo FM, Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat, and the Principal of Islamic High School, Bashorun, Ibadan, Abdulahi Fasasi, faces a four-count charge of conspiracy, negligence leading to death, endangering public safety, and failure to provide adequate security and medical facilities at the event.

An Ibadan Magistrate’s Court remanded the trio in prison on December 24, 2024. Justice K.B. Olawoyin of the Oyo State High Court also refused to grant bail during a hearing on Tuesday, adjourning the ruling to Monday, January 13, 2025.

He said, “The case is before the court. We cannot interfere with the court process; we will wait for the court’s outcome, and we will not take any step that will jeopardise the court’s process on the matter. We hope she will eventually be exonerated. We don’t know what the court has for her.

“The only thing we can do for her now is to pray to God to vindicate her, and the Ooni, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi believes God will vindicate her because she had good intentions for the programme. She has always cared for children, especially the underprivileged, even when she was in the palace. Nobody ever died during such events when she organised them in the past.

“She must have organised about three or four editions while at the palace, and nobody died. We understand she had been doing it even before she came to the palace and continued doing it after leaving the palace. The Ibadan edition is not the first children’s programme she has held since leaving the palace.

“Based on that, we are wishing her well and praying that God grants her justice. God will vindicate her. We believe she must have acted in good conscience. Nobody organises an event intending to harm people. We at the palace wish her well and pray for her eventual exoneration.”