Oba Adeshina Raji, the traditional ruler of the Iba community in Ojo, near Lagos, has denied reports that he was aiding and abetting cultism and other criminalities in the area.
Raji denied the reports in response to what he called baseless allegations that he was involved in cult-related crimes in the area.
He said:
My attention has been drawn to a malicious and vicious allegation targeted at denigrating my image and personality.
I am a traditional ruler with high integrity and I have zero tolerance for nonsense, especially crimes.
Raji maintained that some unscrupulous people are using social media to tarnish his image and that he is not associated with a specific person who has been linked to criminal activities in Iba town.
I am in no way connected to such a person. I am sure that the social media post is the handwriting of mischief makers and success haters, who are only good at brewing tensions and downgrading fellow humans.
My hatred for criminality has sustained my initiative to improve security in my community, making me donate some items such as vehicles to track criminals in the Iba community.
I have also single-handedly built a magistrates’ court in my community which I handed over to the Lagos State Government.
So, if I am aiding and abetting criminals, would I have done all that? I am a king who loves peace and hates violence.
Raji recalled that the allegation against him surfaced on social media on February 12th, where he was accused of using a cultist known only as “Sholly” to commit crimes in Iba town.
The traditional ruler, who is also the Chairman of the Lagos State Parks and Garage Administrators, stated that he would never support criminality.
He, however, pleaded with Lagos State security agencies, including the State Security Service and the police, to intervene in the matter and apprehend those responsible for tarnishing his image.