Gbenro Adesina
One of the buildings in the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, was gutted by fire on Wednesday August 19, 2020.
A building inside the Ile Oodua’s Palace of Ooni of Ife was on Wednesday gutted by fire, causing panic in the ancient city.
A source in the palace confirmed the incident but said it was a minor fire outbreak, which was immediately put out by men of the fire service..
Reacting to the incidence, in a statement by the Ooni’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Comrade Moses Olafare, the monarch described the occurrence as minor.
The statement read in part:
“The Palace of the Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, wishes to inform the entire public that a minor fire outbreak involving a tiny part of one of the administrative buildings within the premises of the palace occurred at about 1:15pm today, Wednesday 19th, August 2020, leaving no harm to the oldest palace in Yoruba land.
“The minor inferno which lasted for about 20 minutes was immediately put out by collective efforts of people in the palace led by the Ooni’s Chief Security, Kolawole Emmanuel, later joined by men of the fire services from the state government, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife.
“Aside from the fact that there was no causality whatsoever, the fire was just a minor occurrence which was nothing to be compared to the misleading huge pictures being painted in the media, particularly the social media.
“While it is suspected to have emanated from an electric spark, measures are currently in place to reveal the cause of the inferno.
“We wish to thank men of the Osun State Fire service, Obafemi Awolowo University Fire Service and OAUTH Fire Service for their swift response, while efforts of well meaning Nigerians who reached out to the Palace for objective analysis are equally appreciated.
“Once again, the ancient Palace of Ife remains as rich as before in culture, traditions and tourism.”
