Dayo Aiyedatiwa, the elder brother of Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has been accused of physically assaulting the Olu of Igbokoda, His Royal Majesty Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, during an official flag-off ceremony.
Dayo is the Akogun of Obe-Nla and the elder brother of Governor Aiyedatiwa.
The incident reportedly occurred on Monday at “Zero Zero,” the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area, during a public event.
Oba Odidiomo told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that, as the chief host in his community, he welcomed the traditional rulers as they arrived one after the other and ensured they were seated. Eventually, there were no more seats available.
The monarch explained that each time a new monarch arrived, he would stand up and make room for them, then find another place to sit.
He said he continued this way because he felt it was his responsibility to ensure all the traditional rulers were comfortable in his hometown.
He said that after seating everyone, he noticed Dayo, the governor’s elder brother, bringing a chair to sit directly in front of the table where all the traditional rulers were seated.
The monarch said he approached Dayo and politely said, “Please, sir, where you are sitting is not appropriate. You are sitting in front of kings.”
In response, Dayo reportedly replied, “Do you know who you are talking to?”
The monarch told SaharaReporters that he did not know who Dayo was, frankly.
He said, “God knows I didn’t know him.”
Oba Odidiomo said he did not need to know who Dayo was before telling him that the seat he was occupying was inappropriate.
“If I, as the monarch, should look at where he’s sitting, I would ask myself—does that seat befit him?” he added.
However, the monarch stated frankly, “The people seated behind him were kings, and Dayo was not one of them.”
He said it was not appropriate for Dayo to sit there.
“Immediately I said that, he responded by saying it would not be well with me. God is my witness—if I am lying against him, may I not wake up if I sleep tonight,” he said.
He continued, “He said it would not be well with me. I couldn’t keep quiet for a moment. I asked myself—was he just being bold because he was questioning who I am, or does he truly not know me? At the very least, I was dressed in full royal regalia.
“I asked him, ‘What did you just say?’ He repeated it—he said it would not be well with me. I pointed at him and asked, ‘Am I the one you’re saying it should not be well with? Is that acceptable?’”
The monarch reportedly responded and told Dayo, “When you wake up in the morning and gather your fruits in the afternoon, in the night, it will not be well with you. You will not enjoy the fruit of your labour.”
“Immediately I said that, he jumped up and tried to lift me. I’m sure if he had succeeded, he would have slammed me to the floor,” the monarch said.
The monarch explained that he had initially approached Dayo politely and said, “Please, sir, where you are sitting is not appropriate. You are sitting in front of kings.
“But I made it impossible for him to carry me. When he saw he couldn’t lift me, he used one hand to release me from the way he was holding me and bent my head to the side—towards my ear. That was when I gave him a shoulder. I hit him with my shoulder. He staggered a bit and let go of my ear.
“He was holding a walking stick. I know that type of walking stick usually has a sword hidden inside. So someone who could bite me might also use a sword. So the first thing I did as he staggered away was to take the stick from him.”
Oba Odidiomo told SaharaReporters that when he noticed that blood was already dripping from his ear, he used the walking stick to hit him.
“And I felt it was embarrassing,” he said.
“People started coming to me, saying, ‘That’s the elder brother of the governor.’
“And then I came home. As I’m talking to you now, just as you called me, the younger—I don’t know—the younger brother of the governor, maybe the next in line to him, is calling me. People have been begging me, everybody. They’ve been begging me.”
The monarch explained that he felt that the situation would be embarrassing for the governor, who had nothing to do with it, as his name had been coming up in the press because of his brother’s public behaviour.
He said, “Those who tried to provoke me into saying all sorts of things—I ignored them. My brother, I can forward a picture of my ears to you.
“That’s the situation. I have refused to grant any press interviews for two reasons. First, speaking now does not erase the embarrassment, the pain, and the dent on my reputation. So, granting a press review at this point would only ridicule the matter further.
“Second, the person involved is the governor’s eldest brother—same father, same mother. And I feel publicising this issue further could damage the governor’s image. But I have now chosen to speak out for two reasons.”
Oba Afolabi explained that the matter was already circulating in the press in a way that suggested a deliberate attempt to cover up the truth.
The monarch said, “I believe that when someone does wrong, they should be told the truth. Even if they forgot or didn’t intend it, they can be corrected calmly. But when someone deliberately misleads, then the truth must be exposed.
“Let me explain what I mean. There is a report from Roving Reporters, an online news outlet. In their story, they claimed that I was attacked because I arrived late to a function, after everyone had already taken their seats. They claimed I went to meet a community leader, whose name they could not provide, and was then attacked.
“They even used an old photo from 2017, presenting it as an image of the alleged attack. They claimed the attacker was unknown and urged the government to investigate it.”
He said the article was written by someone from Ilaje, the area where Dayo Aiyedatiwa hails from, noting that it shows there may be a biased narrative.
He said the reporter made it seem as though he was the one who approached a community leader, whose identity they did not verify, and was attacked as a result.
The monarch noted that this is not just a misrepresentation; it’s a deliberate distortion of facts.
He said the reporter urged the authorities to take the following steps: Suspend Oba Afolabi pending investigation, conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and the monarch’s past behaviour and consider dethroning him if found guilty of misconduct.
When asked what he expected the league of traditional rulers to do, he said, “To start with, I am the victim here, and I do not want to be a judge in my own case. I want the traditional rulers and all people of good conscience to look into the incident and do what is right—what must be done.
“As far as I’m concerned, traditionally, it is forbidden for my blood to spill and touch the ground. And as I speak to you, traditional rites concerning that have already commenced. We are going to get to the truth.
“I’ve considered legal action and many other options, but with the appeals coming in… So, I think the basic traditional rites began last night, and they are going to last for three days.”
“Someone just told me that some youths gathered in front of the local government office protesting or something like that. I’m going to quell it. I don’t want any noise about it, for my sake and the sake of the government,” he said.
“But I think it is quite interesting, as it were. That’s all I can say for now.”
Efforts by SaharaReporters to reach Dayo Aiyedatiwa for comments were unsuccessful.
~ Saharareporters
