Chanel Chin, former wife of the Oluwo of Iwo Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has responded to allegations made by the monarch, saying the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, was not involved in her marriage to the traditional ruler.
In a recent interview, Ms Chin narrated her experiences during her time at the Iwo palace, claiming she faced challenges that forced her out of the marriage.
She alleged that she and her son were forced to leave the palace under pressure and were denied access to personal belongings.
She said, “I’ll catch him red-handed. He will say, but I’m a king, I’m allowed. Nobody will say anything because I’m allowed to as a king. So what can I do? It’s just me and my baby. Then when I go and consult with older women in Yoruba culture, they will say, ‘Olori, just put it to God. You don’t leave your husband in Yoruba. You don’t leave your husband’s house.’”
Chin also said her background made it difficult to understand certain cultural practices.
“My father is Jamaican. My mother is British. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I don’t know anything about juju until I came to Iwo,” she said.
She further recounted that during her exit from the palace, she was only given a short time to pack her belongings.
“For that five months, me and my baby were walking along in Lagos with our luggage. I had 60 minutes to pack four years of my life. He had police standing over me while I wasn’t allowed to take any of my clothes, all my wigs, my makeup, my hair. He said to leave it. It’s for the next Olori. This is our culture,” she said.
Addressing the recent allegations by the Oluwo, she clarified, “I was introduced to the Oluwo (Mr Akanbi) by a respected Lagos monarch, not by the Ooni of Ife and we used to visit the monarch very well when we were together. The Oluwo had been absent from Prince Oduduwa’s life for over five years. He only resurfaced in August this year in Canada, refused to sign passport papers but dropped $500, the first support Oduduwa ever received from him since we left the palace. I plead with the public to disregard all falsehoods against the Ooni of Ife, our foremost monarch. I also urge the traditional institution to caution the Oluwo from further degrading the sacred throne he once occupied. This shall be my final statement on the matter.”
The development comes after the Oluwo of Iwo accused the Ooni of Ife of conspiring with Chin to harm him.
In a video posted on his Instagram page, the Oluwo alleged that the Ooni set him up with his former wife and supported her against him.
He claimed, “She was in my house for over three years. She had a child, which I don’t even know if it’s my child now. I have to confirm that through DNA because they want her to kill me. She poisoned me twice. They set up an assassination attempt. They did everything so that maybe their gods would kill me, but they failed. After I found out the secret, I kicked this woman out. It was Ooni who accommodated her.”
The monarch further alleged that the Ooni engaged in an extramarital affair with Chin at an undisclosed hotel and supported her after she left the palace.
Reacting, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the claims, questioning why the Oluwo had not reported any alleged threats to security agencies.
“I hope he has reported it to the police station. If somebody alleges a threat to his life or an attempt to kill him, should he report it to the security agencies or to the media? That should give you an idea of what lies behind the so-called allegations. He is always rushing to the media to shout,” Olafare said.
He added that the allegations of infidelity were a private matter and not related to the Ooni.
“It is between him and his ex-wife; that is nobody’s problem. Whatever happened between them is private. It does not concern me. It does not concern the Ooni. He has remarried now and should have forgotten everything. And the woman, too, has remarried, wherever she is in Canada,” he said.
The Ooni’s spokesperson described the allegations as “too childish to respond to.”
Chanel Chin and the Oluwo married in 2015 and had a son, Oduduwa.
Their separation was announced in December 2019.
In 2022, the Oluwo remarried Princess Firdaus Abdullahi of Kano.
