TikTok user Wasilat Olalere has alleged that she was coerced into falsely claiming she fell ill after recording the famous Oloolu masquerade in Ibadan.
In an interview with an Islamic cleric, Olalere refuted earlier reports that she had mysteriously fallen ill after filming the masquerade in a video that went viral on TikTok.
Olalere explained that she had only filmed security operatives and local residents in her neighborhood as they prepared for the annual Oloolu masquerade event, then uploaded the clip to TikTok. She said she deleted the video after receiving warnings to take it down, but by then, others had already saved and circulated it.
According to Olalere, men associated with the Oloolu traditional institution later arrived at her shop, threatened her, and took her away despite protests from residents.
They told me the Olubadan requested my presence and that I would be jailed. I pleaded with them, but they locked me up at Agungun Police Station. I was released on bail on Saturday, she recounted.
She further alleged that after her release, she was taken to Ode Aje and forced to undergo traditional rites. Her family was reportedly asked to provide a goat, red cloth, and a blade for the ceremony.
They told my mum to get a goat, red cloth, and blade because she would scrape my hair. They put the goat on my neck, made me sit on a mortar, killed the goat on my head, and told me to let the blood dry completely on me, she claimed.
Olalere also said that after the ritual, she was filmed and compelled to state on camera that she had been unwell and bleeding since witnessing the Oloolu masquerade.
They forced me to say I had been sick and bleeding all over my body since I saw Oloolu. Nothing happened to me. I didn’t see any blood, not even my menstrual period, she insisted.
She alleged that her husband was contacted during this ordeal and that ₦400,000 was collected from her family after they provided the required ritual items.
The controversy began after Olalere’s video of the Oloolu masquerade drew backlash from the custodians of the tradition, who argue that the revered figure should not be recorded or made public. A subsequent video surfaced, showing Olalere claiming to have fallen ill and undergone traditional cleansing.
However, Oluwo Ishola Akeem, the Family Secretary of the Oloolu masquerade, denied any allegations of assault, asserting that Olalere came for the rites voluntarily after admitting to breaking cultural protocols. He stated that the family did not force her to participate in the ritual, but that she sought appeasement for violating the customs surrounding the Oloolu masquerade.
