Let me take you back to 19th Century Lagos and tell you a story of power, horror, and vengeance.
Around 1817, Prince Kosoko of Lagos scattered the hornets’ nest when he seduced and married the fiancée of the Eletu Odibo of Lagos. #Thread
When Kosoko’s father, Oba Osinlokun, died in 1829, his brother, Idewu Ojulari, was crowned as the new Oba and reigned for five years.
However, Oba Ojulari's reign was so unpopular and Lagosians petitioned Oba Osemwende of Benin to get rid of the...
Amidst pressure from the people and with little or no royal authority, Oba Idewu Ojulari committed ritual suicide in 1834.
Odibo had had his first pound of flesh.
DON'T FALL OFF
His second pound of flesh.
Now, don’t fall off your seat. It’s just beginning.
AN UNENDING VENGEANCE
Around 1839, Odibo extended his vengeance to Kosoko’s wealthy sister, Opo Olu, accusing her of witchcraft. Although, the oracle found her innocent, Oba Oluwole still banished her from Lagos.
Eletu Odibo did not stop there. He went further to dig up Kosoko's mother's dead body and drowned it in the Lagos lagoon.
You would have asked Eletu Odibo, “Is that not enough. Because of a woman?”
But the “Mad Prime Minister” did not stop there.
When Oba Oluwole died of a gunpowder explosion in his palace in 1841, his body was blown to pieces and could only be identified by the...
Consequently, Kosoko's uncle, Akitoye, the younger brother to Osinlokun and Adele, and the son of Oba...
Now the chalice was full. Kosoko would not take it. He would fight for his right and took his ultimate revenge.
(Time would fail me to talk about Kosoko and Akitoye’s rivalry; and, of course, the role of the enigmatic...
Nevertheless, I shall finish this story. Your buttocks must have been sore by now.
So, on August 11, 1845, Kosoko captured the Eletu Odibo at the battle of Ogun Olomiro (Salt Water War).
The new king would avenge his denials of the Lagos throne, drowning of his sister, and the scattering of his mother's bones on the Lagos lagoon.
Kosoko put the Eletu Odibo in an empty oil barrel and then sealed it. He set it on fire before dumping it in the Lagos Lagoon. Ouch… Oh, what a death!
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