The former wife of the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, Queen Chanel Chin, has accused the monarch of being a “deadbeat father” after he alleged that the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, conspired with her to destroy his reputation.
Chanel, who was born in Canada to Jamaican reggae musician Ludlow “Bobo Zaro” Chin, described the monarch’s comments as “false, misleading, and damaging to the Yoruba traditional institution.”
Oba Akanbi had recently released a video on social media accusing the Ooni of packaging Chanel for him, claiming he never knew her before their marriage.
“He (Ooni) was looking for my downfall, and the next thing, they packaged a woman for me. I don’t know her from Canada. It was a setup,” he alleged.
The monarch further claimed that Chanel tried to poison him twice, attempted to kill him, and had a child whose paternity he now questions.
“She had a child, which I don’t even know if it’s mine. I have to confirm that through DNA,” he added, also accusing the Ooni of accommodating and having an affair with his former wife.
Attempts to get comments from the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, were unsuccessful at press time.
In a response posted on Instagram on Friday, Queen Chanel Chin refuted all the monarch’s claims, saying she met him through a respected Lagos monarch and not the Ooni of Ife.
“I was introduced to Mr Akanbi by a respected Lagos monarch, not by the Ooni of Ife. During my time as Olori Oluwo, I regarded this Lagos monarch as my royal father and still do,” she wrote.
Chanel also accused the Oluwo of neglecting their son, Prince Oduduwa, for over five years.
“Mr Akanbi has been absent from Prince Oduduwa’s life for over five years. He resurfaced in August this year in Canada, refused to sign passport papers, but dropped $500 — the first support Oduduwa has ever received from him since we left the palace,” she alleged.
She urged the public to disregard the monarch’s claims and called on Yoruba traditional leaders to caution him.
“This shall be my final statement on the matter. Prince Oduduwa remains my beloved son, and I hold the Yoruba people in deep love and respect,” she concluded.
The Oluwo and Chanel Chin met in Lagos in 2015 and got married shortly after. Their marriage ended in December 2019, after nearly three years, with the monarch citing “irreconcilable differences.”
