Youths in Odigbo town on Monday staged a peaceful protest against the alleged imposition of a candidate as regent of Omifon town in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The protesters, in their hundreds and drawn from different communities in the local government, sang solidarity songs to express their displeasure over the development.

They carried placards with inscriptions such as, “Regents are not chosen in the mosque, but by the chieftaincy declaration of Ondo State,” “Omifon town is under Odigbo, not Osun, Kwara or Ogun State,” and “Ondo State Police, please stop intimidating us, be neutral,” among others.

The monarch of Omifon community, the late Alhaji Yusuf Adesina, passed away in November 2025, but the appointment of a regent for the community has been a subject of controversy.

The protesters alleged that some individuals were attempting to impose a regent on the community illegally.

Speaking on the protest, the spokesperson for the youths, Kolawole Ademusuru, said the action had become imperative to correct alleged “misleading and erroneous information” being peddled by certain individuals who were desperate to cause distress, anarchy and insecurity in Odigbo town.

He explained that every town and community had established customs and procedures for governance, particularly in the selection of successors to vacant traditional positions.

He said, “In line with the long-established tradition and the chieftaincy declaration of Odigbo town, the monarch of Odigbo Kingdom, Oba Rufus Akinrinmade, is to rightfully appoint a Regent pending the selection and installation of a new Olọja for the community.

“Some group of people in the community recently unlawfully converged in a mosque and purportedly appointed another person as the regent of the town against the customs and chieftaincy declaration of the community.

“We want to appeal to the Ondo State Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to call to order those attempting to distort tradition by mixing religion with traditional institutions.

“Regency is a temporary arrangement, lasting only a few months or years, and automatically ends once a new Olọja is lawfully selected by the kingmakers.”

Addressing the protesters, the Chairman of Odigbo Local Government, Mr Taiwo Adegoroye, appealed to the youths to remain calm, promising that their agitations would be conveyed to the governor.

The chairman ordered that nobody should continue parading himself as the Regent of Omifon, warning that such a person would be arrested.

He also commended the youths for the peaceful protest and urged them not to take the law into their hands.

“I want to commend you for holding this protest peacefully. I have ordered the person to stop parading himself as a regent henceforth or else I will order his arrest.

“We have to follow the tradition of our communities,” the chairman declared. (The PUNCH)

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