The first class Yoruba monarch, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who was accused and criticized for visiting Kuje Prison has publicly denied the news circulating all over Social media saying he only visited the prison on an official visit and not to visit embattled former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
In an interview with a popular Nigeria Newspaper on behalf of the monarch on Wednesday, his spokesperson, Mr Moses Olafare, said Oba Ogunwusi was at the correctional facility at the instance of a Non-Governmental Organisation, Hopes Alive Initiative (HAI) owned by one of his wives, Queen Temitope. According to him, the NGO was an advocate for the correctional centre.
He said the program, which was organised in partnership with Kuje correctional authority, centered around giving hope to inmates on reintegration into society after completing their terms, and the Ooni was part of it, in commemoration of his eighth anniversary.
“The program centers around giving hope to the inmate that, after serving out their terms, they still have hope to reintegrate back into society. The Arole Ooni was invited to chair the event in commemoration of his eighth anniversary on the throne, the PRO said.
Moses Olafare frowns at those spreading the fake news, saying, “The intent of those spreading the fake news was to blackmail the monarch; there is nothing hidden about the event. In any case, the king never met Emefiale because it was an official event organised by the NGO in conjunction with the Kuje Correction Centre’’.
“What is exclusive about a public program where different public figures and representatives of the inmate also spoke? How then did the Ooni manage to meet Emefiele?
“We must be careful with how people spread falsehoods about people. The video of the event is available to the public. I am not even sure Emefiele attended the program because he is only in detention and not an inmate yet, so why link the program to Emefiele? It is simply to achieve blackmail, he added.
