The Palace of Nigeria’s Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III gutted by fire

The Palace of Nigeria’s Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III was today gutted by fire, which consumed invaluable and historic artefacts, in its rage.

According to the information gathered, the fire disaster was caused by an electrical surge and affected twenty one rooms including three apartments belonging to three of the monarch’s wives in the ancient palace. The Alaafin used to preside over an expansive Oyo kingdom, with reach as far as present day Togo and Benin Republic.

Equally affected in the fire were the Ile Ori and Ile Ifa, razed with artefacts in them.

Information revealed that though no life was lost and nobody sustained injuries, the monarch’s wives were greatly affected as they lost virtually all their valuables into the fire.

The Alaafin’s Media Assistant, Alhaji Azeez Fehintola, disclosed:

“The extent of damage by the fire goes beyond my imagination. Immediately I got here and saw the extent of the damage done to the palace by this early morning conflagration, I could not but break down into tears. The fire, which broke out from electrical surge, started around 6 a.m and was contained after about three hours. The fire-fighters came at some minutes past seven and battled it till it was finally put out. Every part of the affected apartments was completely razed. It was a really sad day for the Ayabas,(the king’s wives) who were in sober mood because many of their property were destroyed. They keep their monies in the palace. Plasma television, jewellery, clothes, bags and many other valuables yet to be ascertained were destroyed”.
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/01/09/fire-guts-oyo-monarchs-palace/