The death of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade has been officially announced by the Ife Traditional Council.
The chiefs, accompanied by Prince Tokunbo Sijuwade, officially announced the demise of the monarch while meeting with Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the Government House in Osogbo on Wednesday.
One of the chiefs, Oba Solomon Omisakin, told the governor that the Ooni had joined his ancestors.
The monarch, who was flown out in an air ambulance, died on July 28, in a London hospital.
The visit of the chiefs to the governor was the second in about 15 days since the media reported the death of the monarch.
The chiefs led by the Lowa of Ife, Oba Joseph Ijaodola, had on July 29th debunked the reports of the death of the monarch.
The following day, they took their rebuttal to the Government House where they briefed the governor and told him before journalists that the monarch was very much alive.
Earlier in the day, the Isoros were seen in some parts of Ile Ife singing dirges, which is one of the precursors leading to the formal announcement of the death of the Ooni.
The Isoros were said to be dressed in white clothes and carried earthen pots and embarked on a procession outside the palace gate to Enuwa Square.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the burial rites of the late king has been stalled as a result of the ‘Abobaku’ literaly meanining, someone that dies with the king has fled the palace for obvious reasons.
The Ife Traditional Council however denied such saying the practice has been abolished several years back.
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