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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

Oloolu festival: Female TikToker was abused - Sowore

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Omoyele Sowore condemned the traditional cleansing of a female TikToker after she filmed an Oloolu masquerade procession in Ibadan.
  • Sowore described the incident as an abuse of human dignity, stating that any cultural practice that oppresses or discriminates should be discarded.
  • The TikToker, identified as Wasilat, denied filming the sacred Oloolu masquerade and refuted rumors of her death, explaining she filmed a procession near her shop.

Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, has strongly condemned the alleged traditional cleansing of a female TikTok content creator in Ibadan. The incident occurred after she reportedly filmed a procession associated with the annual Oloolu masquerade festival.

While culture occupies a vital place in our lives, any cultural practice that is oppressive, discriminatory, or insensitive to gender should be abandoned immediately.

— Omoyele SoworeThe African Action Congress presidential candidate's statement on cultural practices.

Sowore took to Facebook to denounce the ritual as an abuse of human dignity. He argued that any cultural practice found to be oppressive, discriminatory, or insensitive to gender should be abandoned. "Wasila was ultimately abused and stripped of her dignity by the very people who are often quick to condemn Islamists for engaging in similar acts," Sowore stated, emphasizing that such abuse is unacceptable regardless of who carries it out.

Wasila was ultimately abused and stripped of her dignity by the very people who are often quick to condemn Islamists for engaging in similar acts.

— Omoyele SoworeSowore's condemnation of the traditional cleansing ritual.

Meanwhile, the TikToker, identified as Wasilat, has broken her silence, denying reports that she filmed the sacred Oloolu masquerade. Speaking in an interview, she insisted that she neither recorded the revered traditional figure nor died, contrary to social media rumors. She explained that on the day in question, she filmed a procession that passed near her shop, not the Oloolu masquerade itself.

It does not matter whether such abuse is carried out by Islamists, traditionalists, or anyone else. Any culture, tradition, or belief system that violates human dignity is unacceptable and has no place in a just society.

— Omoyele SoworeSowore's stance on cultural practices that violate human dignity.

Wasilat recounted that after posting the video, TikTok users urged her to delete it. The following day, individuals approached her at her shop. She expressed confusion about why eyewitnesses did not defend her at the time and stated her belief that "God will judge" the situation. The incident has sparked widespread reactions, particularly after videos surfaced online showing her undergoing traditional cleansing rites at the Oloolu compound.

I am not dead. I did not capture the Oloolu masquerade. May I not be implicated, I did not record Oloolu.

— WasilatThe TikTok content creator denying reports that she filmed the Oloolu masquerade and refuting rumors of her death.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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