Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, has offered explanation on the Wednesday fire outbreak, describing the incident as “a minor,” involving a tiny part of one of the administrative buildings within the premises of the palace, which occurred at about 1:15pm, leaving no harm to the oldest palace in Yoruba land.
According to the monarch;
“The minor inferno, which lasted for about 20 minutes was immediately put out by collective efforts of people in the palace led by the Ooni’s Chief Security, Kolawole Emmanuel, later joined by men of the fire services from Osun State Government, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife.
“Aside from the fact that there was no causality whatsoever, the fire was just a minor occurrence which was nothing to be compared to the misleading huge pictures being painted in the media, particularly the social media.
“While it is suspected to have emanated from an electric spark, measures are currently in place to reveal the cause of the inferno.
“We wish to thank men of Osun State Fire Service, Obafemi Awolowo University Fire Service and OAUTH Fire Service for their swift response, while efforts of well meaning Nigerians who reached out to the palace for objective analysis are equally appreciated.
“Once again, the ancient Palace of Ife remains as rich as before in culture, traditions and tourism,” said Oba Ogunwusi, in a statement by his Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare.