The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has refuted claims of being involved in a romance scam with a female doctor based in the United States, identified as Mrs. Fagbule, News About Nigeria reports.
According to a report by Naija News, an anonymous journalist on X (formerly Twitter) accused the Ooni of deceiving a US doctor out of $180,000.
The allegations stated that the doctor had expressed interest in developing hospitals in Nigeria’s southwest states and that the Ooni cut off contact after failing to secure the agreed investment.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Otunba Moses Olafare, the Director of Media and Public Affairs at the Ooni’s Palace, dismissed the allegations as fraudulent and baseless.
Olafare stated that the Ooni does not have a personal social media account for such communications and suggested that Mrs. Fagbule should approach law enforcement agencies like the police or the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for assistance instead of airing her grievances on social media.
“The Palace of the Ooni of Ife is not unaware of a trending fake news about one Ms. Fagbule purportedly swindled of $180,000 allegedly by our father; Arole Oduduwa Olofin Adimula, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, CFR, Ojaja II, The Ooni of Ife,” the statement read.
“It is worrisome the level at which ladies have been making themselves victims of marriage frauds on the internet despite our several warnings to the general public, particularly ladies whose ultimate ambition were to become queens of the Ooni by all means to beware of the internet marriage proposal scammers who could only capitalise on their gullibility driven desperation.”
Olafare clarified that the allegations are entirely unfounded and appear to be a deliberate character assassination tactic by a faceless social media account named “99% OPPRESSED” to gain popularity and traffic for monetisation.
He added that Mrs. Fagbule is not known to the Ooni, and there has been no interpersonal communication or relationship between them.
Olafare mentioned that if Mrs. Fagbule is indeed from Osun State or Ile-Ife, she should have approached the palace directly instead of resorting to social media.
He added that the purported marriage proposal letter circulating on social media is a fabrication, as it does not match the official letterhead or the grammatical style of the Ooni’s correspondence.
The palace urged the public to disregard the false news and reaffirmed that the Ooni remains committed to his duties and responsibilities.
