Shock in Ondo as traditional ruler slumps and dies

Oba Moses Ekundayo Bakare of Idogun in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State has passed away.

The traditional ruler is said to have fallen ill on Wednesday and was rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.

He was said to have remained in a coma for 24 hours before passing away on Thursday evening.

The demise of the monarch is coming after a crisis erupted in the community in October 2025 when some residents of the community publicly assaulted him, an incident captured in a viral video.

Following the incident, the monarch left the town and remained away until his death.

Meanwhile, a panel of enquiry was set up by the state government to look into the crisis and submit a report, but the report is yet to be made available.

The Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Idowu Ajanaku, who is also an indigene of Idogun, confirmed the death of the king.

He expressed the state government’s condolences to the family of the deceased monarch and the entire Idogun community.

Ajanaku disclosed that the Chiefs of the community informed him of the monarch’s death. He urged residents of Idogun to maintain peace and order, and refrain from any act of violence during the period of mourning.

However, reports from Idogun indicated that some Indigenes of the town opposed to the late monarch prevented his corpse from being brought into the community on Thursday by blocking the road with logs of wood.

This reportedly forced those conveying the corpse to return it to a mortuary in Owo.