A veteran Yoruba actress, Simbiat Ajoke Agboola, alias Ewedoyin, has stirred fresh controversy over the death of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, mother of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, alleging that the account consistently presented by the singer’s family about the incident was incomplete and misleading.
Speaking with Dele Agboola in a media interview, Agboola, who claimed to have witnessed the events surrounding the military invasion of Fela’s residence as a child, said the narrative that “unknown soldiers killed Fela’s mother” failed to capture the circumstances that led to the confrontation.
Speaking in a detailed recollection of the incident, she said she was at Abati Barracks at the time, and that her mother operated a food business at the Mammy Market within the barracks, allegedly through the influence of her uncle, Colonel Olubomokun, who then headed the barracks.
According to her, tension escalated after some of Fela’s boys reportedly caused a traffic obstruction whenever the musician intended to leave his residence.
She alleged that on the day of the incident, a senior military officer was caught in the traffic and directed his orderly to investigate the cause of the hold-up.
“The orderly discovered that it was Fela’s boys causing the obstruction. When the senior military officer came out himself, one of Fela’s boys allegedly slapped him,” she said.
Agboola claimed the officer later mobilised soldiers from Abati Barracks to arrest the individuals involved, but they allegedly encountered resistance at Fela’s compound.
She further alleged that the residence had been surrounded with electrified barriers, making it difficult for the soldiers to gain entry.
“The soldiers returned and reported that they were being electrified while trying to enter the compound. That was when more soldiers were mobilised,” she recalled.
Agboola said she personally saw Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti seated upstairs on a balcony before soldiers eventually stormed the premises.
She, however, made controversial claims surrounding the late activist’s arrest, alleging that soldiers believed she transformed into a snake during the operation.
“When they wanted to take the woman, they claimed she turned into a snake. I saw them kill and burn the snake, but I cannot confirm whether it was actually Fela’s mother,” she said.
According to her, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and several of Fela’s boys were subsequently taken to Abati Barracks, where they were allegedly beaten.
Agboola insisted that the version of events often repeated by Fela’s family omitted critical details that led to the military invasion.
“Fela’s boys and family do not present the exact thing that happened that day. They always claim the soldiers just killed his mother, but that was not exactly how it happened,” she stated.
The claims have already generated reactions online, particularly because the widely accepted historical account maintains that Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti sustained fatal injuries after being thrown from a window during the 1977 military raid on Fela’s Kalakuta Republic.
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