A TikToker, Wasilat Olalere, whose viral video allegedly showing the revered Oloolu masquerade in Ibadan sparked controversy last week, has alleged that she was forced to falsely claim she became ill after recording the traditional figure.
Olalere made the allegation during an interview with an Islamic cleric in Ibadan in a video that began circulating on Wednesday. She maintained that she neither saw the Oloolu masquerade nor suffered any mysterious illness, contrary to claims she made in a widely shared video recorded after her release.
According to her, she only filmed security personnel and residents gathered in anticipation of the annual outing of the masquerade before posting the clip on TikTok.
“I recorded Amotekun vehicles that were parked and people who were in front of our house waiting for Oloolu masquerade. I just captioned the video that Oloolu was around Atolu and that people should watch their movement so as not to come in contact with him.
“When I posted the video, people started reaching out to me that I should pull it down. I did immediately. I didn’t know that many had saved it,” she said.
Olalere alleged that shortly after deleting the video, men she identified as members of the Oloolu traditional institution, popularly known as Sokoti, arrived at her shop, threatened her and eventually took her away despite appeals from residents.
“They said Olubadan had requested that I come. They said I would go to jail. I was begging them endlessly. They locked me up at Agungun Police Station and I was bailed out on Saturday. As soon as I got bailed out, they took me in another vehicle, saying we were going to Ode Aje to perform some traditional rites for me,” she said.
She further claimed that she and her family were instructed to provide items for the ritual, including a goat, red cloth and a blade, before she underwent what she described as a cleansing ceremony.
“They told my mum to get a goat, red cloth and blade because she was the one that would scrape off my hair. They put the goat on my neck, told me to sit on a mortar, then killed the goat on my head and instructed me to let the blood dry completely on me. After that, they recorded me and told me to say that since I saw Oloolu, I had been unwell and bleeding all over my body. They also forced me to say that I was the one who came for cleansing.
“Nothing happened to me. I didn’t see any blood, not even my menstrual period. They called my husband in and collected N400,000 after we bought all the things for the traditional rites,” she alleged.
News Access NG had earlier reported that Olalere’s video allegedly showing the Oloolu masquerade sparked outrage among custodians of the centuries-old Ibadan cultural institution, who insisted that the masquerade is not meant to be recorded or publicly displayed.
Following the incident, another video emerged in which Olalere claimed she became seriously ill after recording the masquerade and underwent traditional cleansing. She now alleges that those statements were made under duress.
Responding to the controversy, the Family Secretary of the Oloolu masquerade, Oluwo Ishola Akeem, had denied that Olalere was assaulted by members of the Oloolu family, stating that she voluntarily came for traditional rites after falling ill from recording the masquerade.
He maintained that she admitted violating longstanding cultural traditions surrounding the masquerade and willingly sought traditional appeasement.
Akeem also dismissed reports that she died after the rites, saying the cleansing was conducted in accordance with tradition after consultations with her family, while denying allegations of physical abuse.
However, Olalere’s latest account directly contradicts that position, as she alleged that the traditional rites, the subsequent video in which she claimed to be ill and the payment of N400,000 were all carried out under coercion.
