An Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, on Monday granted bail to an ex-queen of the Ooni of Ife, Naomi Silekunola. The bail also applied to an Ibadan-based media personality, Oriyomi Hamzat and the Principal of Islamic High School, Abdulahi Fasasi. Presiding over Court 8, Justice K. B. Olawoyin gave the ruling following a bail application filed by the …

Oyo State Government has filed eight counts, bordering on murder and manslaughter against the ex-queen of the Ooni of Ife, Naomi Silekunola, the proprietor of an Ibadan-based radio station, Oriyomi Hamzat, and the Principal of Islamic High School, Bashorun, Ibadan, Abdulahi Fasasi, over the 18 December 2024 funfair stampede, during which 35 children died. The charge sheet, marked I/05C/2025, sighted …

In my piece of last week, I made a tangential reference to the place of African magic in modern matters. It was in the discussion of the calamity that befell Nigeria a few days to Christmas. Ibadan, the capital city of the Yoruba, had taken a sizeable chunk of the tragedy. Thirty five persons, the bulk of whom were kids, …

The unnamed woman had just given birth to a baby five days before. Her body was still wet as Yoruba say of mothers who newly underwent the pangs of labour and delivery. Pains must still be ricocheting round her navel. Ex-Queen of the Ooni of Ife, Prophetess Naomi Silekunola, and an Ibadan-based broadcaster, Oriyomi Hamzat, had promised her and her …