Home of Deity Priest Nominee Attacked

The home of an MTN mobile telecom contract staff at No. 3, Apeji Bello Street in Obadare, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State came under severe attack in the early hours of Monday, leaving everything of significance in the apartment destroyed.

The gruesome attack believed to have been carried out with the intention of eliminating Akeem Oluwaseun Ejiko and his family barely three months after he was picked by his Ilepa home village in Ondo State, South West of Nigeria, to succeed his late father, Chief Ismaila Bayo Ejiko, as Chief Priest (Apeno) of their deity, occurred while he was reportedly away from home with his family members. The home was broken into and every item of significance- chairs, TV sets and other electronics- destroyed with no one found in the house

His whereabouts and those of his family members were not immediately known as he could not be reached but a man in the neighbourhood, who identified himself as Doyin Olatunde and claimed to be his friend, said the assailants came in two cars heavily armed and carried out the attack at about 2.30am on Monday morning. Olatunde said Akeem may have probably travelled out of the country on holidays with his family, stating that he last saw him in the area on Sunday, October 30, 2016.

According to him, at a birthday celebration of a friend a week earlier, he overheard him telling another friend of his travel plans but didn’t know exactly if he has already travelled or when exactly he did.

Akeem, 43, a contract staff to MTN Nigeria Plc under A4 Technologies & Telecoms Ltd, as another friend of his, Jonathan Adebayo, would later explain, hails from Ilepa, Ikare Akoko in Akoko North Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo State.

Adebayo, who said he was from the same State as Akeem, stated that Akeem’s father, a Chief Priest of his community’s deity, died sometime in August this year and Akeem was nominated by the traditional council of chiefs to succeed him after his burial but has shown no interest. His father, he said, was the head of all the community’s cultural and traditional priests for many years.

Adebayo strongly believes that the attack on Akeem’s Lagos house was by people from his Ondo State community and was done to let him know that he cannot escape serving in that position unless he dies.

“Akeem should know his people very well, the tradition and culture. He is not a small boy anymore, he was bred and brought up there, and he ought to know that they won’t spare him and his family if he refuses to accept the offer to serve as chief priest to the deity. Though the practice is barbaric, but Christianity is out of the question here, the expectation is that once he was said to have been picked by the gods to succeed his father, he ought to have quietly packed his belongings and return home with his family to serve the gods and his people, not doing that is sacrilegious and they won’t let him have rest of mind anywhere he may be and he knows that they don’t give up on such issues easily,” Adebayo added, stating that he had been reliably informed that Akeem and his family left for overseas on holidays on November 2, 2016, lucky enough that they didn’t meet him and his family on the day of the attack on his house.

Akeem is married to 37-year old Olubukola Ajoke Ejiko with whom he has four sons- Omolade A. Ejiko, 12years, Ayotunde O. Ejiko, 11, Ayokunle A. Ejiko, 9years and Ayomikun O. Ejiko, a six-month old baby.