Posted by By Segun Ajiboye on
The widow of foremost television mystery man, Kolawole Olawuyi, Mrs Bimbola Olawuyi, has denied rumours making the round about the circumstances surrounding her late husband's death.
The widow of foremost television mystery man, Kolawole Olawuyi, Mrs Bimbola Olawuyi, has denied rumours making the round about the circumstances surrounding her late husband's death.
During a brief chat with Sunday Sun, the mother of four, still visibly in shock, said: 'Let anybody say what they want to say. My husband was called by the Lord. He was called by his creator because it was time for him to go back."
Mrs. Olawuyi's short statement was in response to the several rumours in town since the popular broadcaster died on Saturday, March 4. Few hours after news of his death hit town, the rumour mill was awash with different stories about what killed him and how he died.
While some had it that he was killed by some spirits as a result of some trees he allegedly cut inside his compound, others claimed that he has been bed-ridden for months before finally giving up the ghost last week. Another story said witches killed him.
Others did not stop at that. Several stories are also in town on efforts by the family to find the alleged killers. Some even claimed that his corpse had been taken over by the cult group that he belonged.
However, the family has disclaimed all these stories. While the widow maintained that her husband died of natural causes, other family members, friends and staff who spoke with Sunday Sun explained that there were no truth in the stories.
According to a staff who pleaded anonymity, his boss, though ill, was at no time bed-ridden. To buttress his claims, he explained that the Sunday, March 4 edition of his popular television programme, Nnkan Nbe, was filmed only three weeks ago in Epe, Lagos.
'All these stories are not true. You can imagine him being sick for three months. This man was still active about three weeks ago when we went to do a story in Epe area of Lagos."
Another disclosed to Sunday Sun that the reason the family decided to have an open funeral rite for the late man has disproved the rumour that some parts of his body have been taken away by some cult groups.
'Did you hear the one that said his head has been cut off by the cult groups? You know that this man has aged parents. So, the original idea was to give him a private burial. But we had to change everything, like the lying-in-state and other burial rites"
According to the widow, the burial arrangement would kick off next Wednesday with a service of songs at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (Overcomers Assembly), Abule Odu Bus/Stop, Idimu, Lagos. The lying-in-state would hold on Thursday at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos. His remains would be interred at the Victoria Gardens Court cemetery on Friday March 14.
To keen followers of the programmes of late Kolawole Olawuyi across the south-west, the rumours and mysteries surrounding his death are not out of place. To many of his followers, Olawuyi could not have been an ordinary being. To them, he was a man with supernatural powers.
Indeed, you cannot blame them for attributing such powers to the man they listened to on radio stations across the south-west and watched on television every week in the last one decade.
It would be recalled that Kolawole Olawuyi became a household name in the early 90s with his mastery programme on Radio Nigeria Ibadan, Iriri Aye. The programme got very popular with the people as he tried to expose mysterious, but true-life stories every week.
The success recorded by the programme built a larger-than-life personality around him. He soon went on to have two additional programmes, Irinkerindo Akolawole and Nnkan Nbe for television viewers.
The popularity of the programmes cut across tribal lines, as both Yoruba and non-Yoruba stay glued to their television sets every Sunday and radio sets on Fridays to hear the latest mystery story.
His costumes and language on air also reinforced the people's belief that Olawuyi had links with the cult groups. But one of his associates says all he ever had was bravado. 'All those things you see and hear are not true. This man was a staunch Christian. He was a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. I've known him for a long time, and I have never seen him with any other thing other than the bible."
Before his death, Olawuyi always tried to disabuse the minds of his followers about his membership of a cult group. His catch words were: 'A n lo. Eni to ba so pe ka ma bo laa ni de ba lagbara Edumare". Translated, he meant: 'We are going, whoever says we wouldn't come back would not be here by the time we come back by the powers of God."
However, no matter what you say, many still do not believe that his death was natural. Many still troop to his residence, Ogabi Court, few metres away from the Egbeda Bus/ Stop to see the trees he allegedly fell shortly before his death.
A relation swore that Olawuyi had nothing to do with the cut trees. 'It was not him that cut the trees. You can see that they are not even in front of his house. How could he have gone to cut trees in another man's house? Only God knows how this story started."
Kolawole Olawuyi is not new to crisis. Back in 2004, a mysterious fire, setting him back to the tunes of several millions, destroyed his ultra modern studio on Gbemisola Street, Ikeja.
Speaking with Sunday Sun after the fire, Olawuyi promised to bounce back. He did bounce back as he promised when he moved into his own property, which he allegedly acquired for about N9 million in the Anifowoshe area of Ikeja.
Even in death, not many would forget the many mysterious stories about crimes and man's inhumanity to fellow man exposed by Kolawole Olawuyi. He was a holder of an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) from the Polytechnic, Ibadan.