The Akinnagbe family and Lekere Community in Ondo West and East Local Government area of Ondo State are at war with one of their sons, Richard Waka Akinnagbe for turning down the priesthood title of the biggest deity in the town, which traditionally belongs to their family.
According to a source within in the community , who pleaded anonymity, Richard,who has been on the run with his wife has turned down the request of the Akinnagbe family and Lekere Community to be the chief priest of one of the deities in the ancient community according to the custom and tradition of the family and community.
It was learnt that, the late father of the runaway Richard was the last chief priest of the deity and according to tradition, his first son is expected to assume the position upon his demise.
According to our source in the state and community who is a reputable Chief who prefer to be anonymous, said war between Richard and Lekere Community began in 2021 when Richard’s father who was the chief priest died. Immediately after the burial, the community leaders including the king, chiefs and other occultic chieftains in the community summoned Richard to a community meeting where they announced to him publicly that he was the one to succeed his late father as the Chief Priests of the community, being the first son.
Richard ,who has changed his faith to Christianity reportedly rejected this offer and told his family and community leaders that he could not accept such, insisting that, being the chief priest of the deity is totally against his new belief and faith. It was learnt that the blunt refusal of Richard infuriated the traditional power brokers in Lekere Community as they viewed it as unruly audacity and affront to their traditional authority.
It was also learnt that, the youths in the community also found the action of Richard offensive and insulting to the traditional authority. Therefore with the permission of the power brokers, some of youths and thugs went to Richard’s house in the evening where they subjected him to various physical attacks. It was gathered that, Richard was brutalised and his vehicle which he brought from Lagos was vandalised by these hoodlums.
Investigation revealed that, if Richard Akinnagbe had accepted to be the new chief priest, he is expected to resigned from his place of work in Lagos city and move permanently to the Lekere village with his wife , Adebola and only son, Richmond Tobiloba to serve his family and by extension ,the whole community as the custodian of the deity, where domestic staffs, cars and official residence would be provided as customs, thereby making him to be carrying out some barbaric practices which include human sacrifices, cannibalism and all others. The height of all these barbaric acts according to our findings is cannibalism rite which is a pre-installation ritual where Richard would have to eat some human parts belonging to his father whom he is succeeding. It was revealed that, it is a matter of traditional compulsion for a newly elected chief priest to eat some parts of his predecessor as part of pre-installation rituals.
According to our source,
Richard found this very repugnant as it’s against his new faith, Christianity.
It was gathered that Richard was just not chosen for the occultic leadership position because his father was the last chief priest, but also because of his involvement in the deity ,when he was young , a situation which had seen him been initiated into the deity cult right from childhood.
The family source said “he ( Richard) has not returned to his family and Lekere Community, since he was chosen as the next chief priest of the deity and nobody knows his whereabouts ”
” His father was a former chief priest and he (Richard) used to participate in the activities when he was young but now that he has become a christian, now sees everything that we do in the family and the community as barbaric, fetish and devilish against his new belief”.
The source threatened that the family and the community cannot afford to receive the wrath of the deities because of unbecoming action of Richard, adding that, they would do everything possible to force him to accept the title, otherwise, he will be dealt with even,if it will cause him his life.
The source, further added that : ” running from family and traditional responsibilities is great abomination in Lekere Community which the traditional authority don’t take lightly with anybody. Because such sacrilege can put the whole community in serious trouble because it is considered as a great offence against our deities. And if the deities are offended, they can invoke their anger and wrath against the whole community which can be too calamitous. So, in order to forestall this from happening, the community traditional authority must do everything possible to ensure that the chosen person accept the offer”
However, the source said, “the only condition that can prevent Richard from being made the Chief Priest is, if he is bodily incapacitated by either being blind or paralyzed. But so far, he’s not blind and paralyzed and he is alive, he will have to accept the offer, otherwise, he and his immediate family would pay dearly for it with their lives”, the source threatened.
“He is underrating the importance of being a chief priest of a powerful communal deity and so, the family in conjunction with the community will do everything traditionally possible to deal with him and his family should he choose to disparage the deity through his unbecoming behaviour”.
The source further disclosed that, the community threat was real as no one in the past who tried what the absconding Richard did went without being penalised traditionally and with fatal consequences.
The source even said, that if care is not taken, the penalty can cause him to be blind or cause him his life and also the lives of his family members because the offence committed by him is a great sacrilege against the deities and the community.
Meanwhile, our independent research reveals that, the runaway Richard has relocated to the UK with his wife for the fears of their lives since 2022. Before escaping from Nigeria, it was gathered that, Richard took serious legal action to prevent his community from enforcing what is against his interest on him. According to findings, when the heat was becoming too much around 2021, Richard reported the case to a Police station in Ondo town but the police could not do anything under the excuse that it is a transitional and community matter for which they do not have jurisdiction to intervene in. Not satisfied with this, Richard was also learnt to report the case to Lagos Police, yet with the same response from the Ondo police he first reported to. Because of this development, Richard had almost resigned to his fate until he got a way of escape through his wife, Adebola who got admission to study in the UK
It was reliably learnt that Richard’s wife, Adebola got admission for postgraduate program in one of the Universities in the United Kingdom and through this was able to escape to the UK as a dependant. However, Richard and wife did not go with their son, Richmond Tobiloba as they went to hid him somewhere, with the plan of coming back secretly to pick him when they fully settle.
Our investigations on this matter also revealed that, the Lekere community traditional authority have been threatening the lives of Richard’s In-laws, particularly his mother in-law because they believe it is their daughter, Adebola that facilitated how Richard absconded.
This threat, according to a source from Richard’s In-laws family, has caused serious issue between Richard and his wife in the UK. It was learnt that the Adebola is insisting that Richard should go back to Nigeria and his village to accept the offer so that the threat against her family, particularly her mother from Lekere Community would stop.
“Richard’s wife has bowed to the pressure because of the persistent but real threats against her family,particularly her mother. Her mother has been calling her that her life is in danger as Lekere people have been troubling and threatening her that,if she doesn’t ask her daughter to bring Richard out from where she is hiding him, they will harm her. This threat has become source of fear and worry for Adebola and she has been insisting that her husband, should go back to Nigeria and accept the community offer so as to free her mother from community anger. But Richard is not pleased with his wife’s new decision as he is rejecting it and refusing to come back to Nigeria because of the fear of his life among Ondo state traditional religion powerbrokers and Lekere Community”, the source said .
