‘You Are Strangers’ – Soun Of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Olaoye Orders Olugbon, Onpetu To Vacate Lands

The escalating traditional leadership tussle in Oyo State took another dramatic turn as the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Olaoye, delivered a fiery warning to two prominent monarchs, Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Olusola Alao, and Onpetu of Ijeru, accusing them of disrespect, falsehood, and disloyalty.

In a strongly worded public address posted by DriveTV News on YouTube and monitored by SaharaReporters, the Soun made it clear that he considers the two monarchs as subordinate to the Ogbomoso stool, accusing them of rewriting history and sowing division.

“I am just experiencing what the former King of Ogbomoso faced,” Oba Olaoye said in the viral video. “I saw that some people that Soun accommodated during the war, that he gave them lands… they have now grown wings, they are now seeing themselves as kings too.”

He explained that he had recently summoned a historic meeting of traditional rulers across Ogbomoso land, with 21 out of 24 Obas attending.

Only the Olugbon and Onpetu declined the invitation, sending what the Soun described as a dismissive letter challenging the legality of his meeting.

“They wrote a letter to the council secretariat that the meeting I organised was illegal. I responded to them. They are only envious. Soun is the head of all Ogbomoso traditional rulers. That is the truth,” he said.

The monarch didn’t stop there.

“You are occupying Ogbomoso land. These people did not want the progress of Ogbomoso people. They claimed they were not Ogbomosho indigenous people and I told them to vacate our lands,” Oba Olaoye said.

“You are strangers and you are spreading false history that they got the crown before Soun. If you come with a crown from where you migrated from, you came to Soun to bow before. He was the one who gave you your present territory.”

“20-something of them came but only two I mentioned did not show up. I am not fighting for the interest of the past Soun. I am after the peace, harmony and progress of this town,” he concluded.

The Soun’s remarks come amid intensifying royal friction in Oyo State, particularly after the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon publicly condemned the recently passed Council of Obas and Chiefs (Further Amendment) Bill 2025 by the Oyo State House of Assembly.

Olugbon described it as a “flawed political document” and urging that it be suspended for broader consultation.

In his counter-position, Olugbon Oba Francis Alao asserted the seniority of his own stool, stating that the current Soun palace sits on land historically belonging to Olugbon. He also questioned the legitimacy of Soun’s claims to traditional supremacy.

“Where is Soun’s kingdom? Where is Olubadan’s kingdom?” he queried, suggesting that neither Ogbomoso nor Ibadan held true kingdom status compared to the Alaafin of Oyo who ruled over a vast empire.

That assertion drew the ire of the Mogajis (family heads) of the Soun Ruling Houses who, in a scathing statement, dismissed the Olugbon’s remarks as ignorant and provocative.

Signed by Princes Olawuyi Itabiyi (Aburumaku), Sikiru Oyeyiola (Gbagun), Olawale Olaoye (Laoye), Oyebamiji Oyedeji (Bolanta), and Ilufoye Layode (Odunaro), the statement said: “We were again treated to a circus show by the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon… His outbursts are so ridiculous and his postulations and reasoning lack depth… He queried where is Ogbomoso Kingdom. The Igbon he claims to rule over is part of the Ogbomoso Kingdom he wants to know.”

The Mogajis argued that during the inter- and intra-tribal wars of the 1800s, the Soun of Ogbomoso gave refuge and land to displaced people, including the Igbon settlers.

“Has he forgotten how Ogbomoso provided refuge to thousands of displaced people including Igbon during the wars?” they asked.

Citing The History of the Yorubas by Samuel Johnson, the Mogajis stated that the Olugbon of Ogbomoso was historically subordinate: “The Olugbon at Ogbomoso is subject to the Baale of Ogbomoso…”

They further alleged that the present Orile-Igbon belonged to another lineage (Orisafayo) and not Oba Alao’s ancestors.

“Kingdoms rise and fall,” the statement read. “Oyo Empire in spite of its wide extent fell, and the so-called Igbon Kingdom he alluded to fell under the sovereignty of Ogbomoso.”