Oba of Lagos Harasses Sen. Obanikoro’s Aged Mother!

………As The Former Minister’s American Lawyers Write Sahara Reporters
Again, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has shown that tolerance and compassion are not in his royal dictionary. In a rather brazen display of these unwholesome characteristics, Oba Akiolu, alongside 16 White Cap Chiefs, stormed the family house of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro in Lagos Island, spewing and emitting fire in the presence of the 92-year-old mother of Obanikoro. According to a privileged source, “Kabiyesi came here with some chiefs with the sole intention to warn the old woman to tell his son to tone down his campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan, Jimi Agbaje and the People’s Democratic Party. Mama was so scared with the unguarded and ‘unroyal’ barrage of threats that she was just weeping and rolling on the floor, begging the King not to harm her son. Oba Akiolu was here for over 30minutes for that singular purpose.”

The source further said that the King specifically threatened to kill or maim the former Minister of State for Defence if he did not desist from his concerted campaigns for the PDP, to which the hapless old woman replied that he should consider ‘Koro’ one of his sons. The King reportedly replied that no son of his would want to deliberately deny him of his livelihood. Obanikoro’s older sister was present while the incident unfolded. So traumatic was the old woman that she could not eat for several days, especially as her beloved son was busy travelling around with the President. When Naijahottestgist reached out to Obanikoro, he would neither confirm nor deny the incident but he said that whatever happens between his family and Oba Akiolu is a family affair and would be treated as such. He reassured us however that no man can hurt him in any way. But a source in the Iduganran palace of Oba Akiolu said the King is hell-bent on subduing Obanikoro’s political activities.

Meanwhile, Obanikoro’s New York-based lawyers, Ta­copina & Seigel, have ini­tiated legal action against online newspaper, Sahara Reporters for allegedly de­faming his person with the publication of an audio recording where Obanikoro allegedly had a conversation with other individuals over the Ekiti gubernatorial elec­tion.

A ‘cease and desist’ letter dated February 19, 2015 by Joseph Tacopina, a top New York criminal lawyer and attorney, addressed to Mr. Sowore reads in part: “You recently stated during a Feb­ruary 14, 2015 ‘Sit Out’ that Senator Obanikoro ‘has killed many people in Lagos State’ and is a ‘murderer.’ According to my client, you simply have no factual basis to make such an utterly baseless and incred­ible statement. Indeed, the very fact that you would make such an outlandish statement evidences your clear bias and that your ‘reporting’ is merely propaganda for Senator Oban­ikoro’s political opponents.’

Mr. Tacopina went further to dismiss Sahara Reporter’s Ekiti audio recording for which Senator Obanikoro has already sued the media outfit in Nigeria, describing the tape as a complete fabrication. “I demand that you, Sahara Reporters and/or any entity under your control immediate­ly cease and desist from mak­ing any false and disparag­ing statements about Senator Obanikoro on the internet or to any third party and imme­diately and publicly retract the above-referenced defamatory statements. If you fail to do so and continue your defama­tory conduct, my office will aggressively pursue all legal remedies against you, Sahara Reporters and/or any entity under your control,” Tacopina wrote.

Meanwhile, hearing is yet to be fixed for the defamation case filed at the Lagos High Court by Senator Obanikoro against Sahara Reporters, Pre­mium Times and Punch Newspapers.