Oyo Markets To Be Closed On Monday In Honour Of Late Olubadan

Markets in Oyo State will not open for business today, Monday the 3rd of January it has been announced as stores and stalls have been ordered to remain shut.

The Babaloja General of Oyo State, Asiwaju Yekini Abass who issued the directive in a statement on Sunday said the move is in honour of the late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji.

It will be recalled as previously reported by Naija News that the foremost traditional ruler joined his ancestors on Sunday at the age of 93.

He passed on at the University of Ibadan College Hospital following a brief illness.

According to Abass, the decision to shut down the markets follows an emergency meeting of all market leaders on Sunday. He urged all traders and marketers to comply.

While praying for the repose of the late monarch’s soul, Abass recalled the Olubadan’s contributions to the development of Ibadanland and market activities in the area.

Meanwhile, Adeola Oloko, spokesman of the late Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji, has denied rumours that the late monarch died of COVID-19.

In a chat with reporters on Sunday morning inside the palace, Oloko said the monarch died after a brief illness and not from COVID-19.

Oloko said: “It was around 1am that Kabiyesi passed on.

“Around 9pm (Saturday), he was first taken to a private hospital, before he was carried to UCH Ibadan around 1am, thereafter he passed on.

“Baba passed on after a brief illness. He spent about five to six days at the hospital.”