The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has bluntly denied a dramatic report that claimed he had duped a woman in the US out of an amount of $180,000.
The controversy started when a well-known blogger claimed on X that the respected monarch had gotten the large payment from a woman named Fagbule, who was born in Osun, in an alleged marriage scam.
OONI OF IFE $180,000 US DOLLARS SCAMMING SERIES. CONTINUATION.
Below is the picture of Mrs Ayannike Ayantunji. The woman who picks scam money for the Ooni of Ife in New York, United States. Listen to her confession when she was confronted for being an accomplice in Kabiyesi scam pic.twitter.com/ja3hx7ZhmP
— 99% OPPRESSED. (@PIDOMNIGERIA) July 17, 2024
The voicenote-laced article also claimed that the victim, an Ile-Ife native, was well-known to the traditional monarch and had attempted to arrange free medical care for women and children in her area before being duped.
The Ogunwusi spokesperson, Moses Olafare, posted an incensed response to the accusations on Facebook, calling them “fake, untrue, and unfounded.”
The monarch vehemently denied any personal relationship with Fagbule, asserting that she was duped by crafty con artists posing as him.
Going one step further, Ogunwusi warned ladies not to fall prey to scammers due to their desperate want to marry.
A portion of the statement read;
“That the news as posted by a Twitter (now X) handle called “99% OPPRESSED” is fake, untrue, and absolutely an unfounded allegation only adopted as a nugatory character assassination tactic aimed at achieving a cheap popularity with a view to drawing huge followers/traffic for avaricious monetization from Twitter (X)”