Owa Haastrup Sacks High Chief for Illegal Removal, Sale of 2 Transformers

The Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, has sacked one of his High Chiefs, Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi, as the Oba-Odo of Ilesa with immediate effect.

Consequently, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup has also advised members of the public “not to deal with or call Mr. Busuyi Gbadamosi as the Oba-Odo of Ilesa.”

These were contained in a press statement issued on behalf of the Palace by Chief Shola Oshunkeye, a Fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, FNGE, on Sunday.

Chief Gbadamosi’s sack, the Palace explained, was in connection with the illegal and unlawful removal of two electric transformers, 300KVA and 500KVA respectively, from the post office in Atakumosa Market, Ilesa, sometime in 2023. The incident happened the reign of the late Oba Dr. Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran II.

The Palace also recalled that the previous Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Dr. Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran II, had vehemently rebuked the High Chief for carting away the two transformers without his permission and that of the affected communities, namely: Araromi, Adeti, Palace and Odo Osunmu, which the two electrical equipment served.

And all efforts by the previous Owa to ensure that Chief Gbadamosi returns the transformers were thwarted; fruitless.

However, shortly after his installation and coronation as the Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup set up a Committee on Resolution of Chieftaincy Disputes, Land and Sundry Matters. And the Committee received several memoranda and petitions.

Among them was the petition submitted by members of the above-mentioned communities against Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi, where they accused him of illegally and unlawfully removing the said transformers.

The Committee, the statement further posited, invited Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi to come and tell them all he knew about the disappearance of the transformers and their whereabouts.

During the Committee’s sitting, the Iyaloja of Atakumosa Market, Chief Mrs. Awe, and the Youth Leader of Araromi Community, gave evidence against Gbadamosi. The Iyaloja told the Committee that the High Chief sent two emissaries to her, asking her to sign a document confirming the sale of the two transformers and in return, he would give her #750,000.00 (Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira Only) from the proceeds of the sale.

But Chief Mrs. Awe roundly rejected the offer and declined to sign the document, the statement further disclosed.

The Youth Leader also gave evidence against Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi, stating that the selfsame Gbadamosi brought a Hiab truck in the night to remove the transformers and that he (Gbadamosi) offered to give him (Youth Leader) money. But like Mrs Awe, the Youth Leader also rejected the offer.

Pressed further on the whereabouts of the two electrical equipment, Chief Gbadamosi was reported to have confessed that he had sold one of them, specifically the one of 300KVA, for #120,000.00 (One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira Only); adding that he used the proceed to transport the second transformer (500KVA) to Ibadan, Oyo State, for repairs.

Consequent upon his confession, the Committee gave Chief Gbadamosi thirty days to retrieve the two transformers and return them to the post office at Atakumosa Market, where they were before being removed. However, the Palace informed in the statement that Gbadamosi failed to retrieve and return the transformers.

His refusal to return the electrical equipment at the expiration of the deadline prompted the Committee to report the matter to Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup. The Paramount Ruler gave Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi a week within which to retrieve and return the two transformers to their original site, the statement further revealed. Again, Gbadamosi did not comply.

The Paramount Ruler was, therefore, left with no other choice than to oust Gbadamosi from his stool as Oba-Odo of Ilesa.

Here is the Owa’s pronouncement on the matter:

“In view of the unlawful, illegal removal, sale and conversion of the proceeds of sale of the two transformers by Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi, in view of an attitude unbecoming of a High Chief in Ijesaland, and in an attempt and effort to preserve the culture and tradition of Ijesaland, I, the Owa Obokun Adimula and Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland, Owa Clement Adesuyi Haastrup, Ajimoko III, have decided to relieve and remove Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi as the Oba-Odo of Ilesa with immediate effect.

“Chief Busuyi Gbadamosi shall henceforth cease to be referred to as Oba-Odo of Ilesa. He shall also refrain from parading himself as such. He shall immediately vacate the Chieftaincy House, and the Chieftaincy House shall remain under lock and key; and members of the public are hereby informed not to deal with or call Mr. Busuyi Gbadamosi as the Oba-Odo of Ilesa.

“This is my pronouncement as the Paramount Ruler of Ijesaland.”