IBD Dende: Stop the lies, unfounded allegations, Eselu tells journalist

The Eselu of Iselu Kingdom in Yewa North local government of Ogun state, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, has warned the investigative journalists Fisayo Soyombo, to quit deceiving the public with falsehoods and baseless accusations rather present accurate information.

Recall that, the investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo had released a video and accused Ibrahim Dende Egungbohun of smuggling rice and assaulting officers for seizing his ‘smuggled’ goods.

Oba Eselu in an open letter on Saturday warned the journalist to refrain from defaming Chief Egungbohun whom he described as his subject or be prepared to face the consequences through legal means.

The monarch explained  that, IBD Dende was on his way to a social party when he discovered that customs officers have seized a few bags of rice to be eaten by a known person and his family.

He said, as a social justice crusader and lover of the downtrodden, IBD Dende pleaded that the customs officers should release the said bags of rice to the guy.

He continued: “Despite the warning and request to him to desist from his mission to defame the person of Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende, the undercover, Fisayo Soyombo still came out with another allegation that Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende threatened to kill a customs officer for seizing the illicit goods which he smuggled into the country.

“Before the undercover released this new allegation to the public, he had boasted that he was going to release another missile to corroborate his earlier allegation against Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende. To my surprise, he released to the public a video that shows Alhaji Ibrahim Dende Egungbohun and a Customs Officer quarreling.

“ As a prominent traditional ruler in this country, I will not delve into things that are illegal and I will not also condone any attempt to destroy my subjects’ hard-earned reputation by some people who are uncomfortable with the rising profiles of Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende.

“This is my philosophy and it is the reason I am informing the public again that the latest allegation of threat to the life of a customs officer leveled against Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende is not only fake but also another hatchet job being carried out by the undercover whose determination is to ruin the reputation of Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende, a lawful businessman, philanthropist and peoples’ rights crusader.

“To set the records straight and for the public to discard the nonsense that the undercover is spewing into the public, I want to state that:

“In the circulated video, Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende was not quarreling with customs officers because they seized any smuggled goods like rice, etc from him.

“IBD Dende was on his way to a party and on getting to the place shown in the video, he discovered that a customs officer had seized a few bags of rice to be eaten by a known person and his family. As a social justice crusader and lover of the downtrodden, IBD Dende pleaded that the customs should release the said bags of rice to the guy since his action was better than elements taking to crimes in the society due to unemployment.

“The customs officer and his superior whom he called on the phone rejected IBD Dende’s plea and this led to the altercation, not that IBD Dende was fighting the customs because his smuggled contrabands were seized.

“IBD Dende became annoyed and asked why the customs officers did not go to other border areas like Seme Border where even senior customs officers are smuggling bags of rice in large quantities into the country.

“In the said video, customs officers were holding their guns and were even trying to calm down everybody. If IBD Dende had truly been an unlicenced clearing and forwarding agent and importer of contrabands, the customs officers in the video would have arrested and prosecuted him.

“From the foregoing, it is clear that IBD Dende cannot be fighting customs officers who were aiding him in smuggling guns and other contraband into the country, as alleged in the first release by the Uncover. In other words, IBD Dende would not have had the guts to challenge the customs if truly he had been caught and found guilty of the importation of contraband into the country in the past.

“It is important to let the public know that the undercover is not doing any serious investigations. Rather he is busy picking information from questionable sources to defame the person of Alhaji Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende.

“I am, therefore, using this opportunity to advise the undercover to go to scenes of incidents to get factual information and stop misleading the public with lies and unfounded allegations.

“I am warning the undercover called Fisayo Soyombo to stop forthwith his mission to destroy the reputation of my subject, IBD Dende. If he refuses to put a stop to this character assassination against IBD Dende, he (the undercover) should be prepared to face the consequences of his actions, as every lawful means will be explored to fish him out for prosecution.”