The annual Osun Osogbo festival was, on Friday, attended by a crowd, including Osun worshippers, traditionalists, and spectators, despite the ban by the state government because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The crowd surged to the Osun Sacred Grove on the outskirts of Osogbo to partake in the festival at the forest along the banks of the Osun river.
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Daily Trust observed that Osun worshipers from Lagos and other parts of the country arrived Osogbo a few days to the festival to beat government restriction.
The security operatives deployed to enforce the ban were overwhelmed as the crowd thronged the Osun shrine.
The state government had announced a ban on gathering at the shrine to prevent further spread of coronavirus among residents.
The state government said the priests could go to the shrine to perform ritual rites under strict adherence to the state guidelines on COVID-19.
But many people disregarded the government’s ban and attended the festival along with the priests.
Some government officials and political appointees, who were not among the priests, also attended the festival.
Though some of the people, sighted on their way to the grove, used face mask, many did not while social distancing was not observed at the gathering.
Some of the security agents told Daily Trust that it was difficult to prevent people from moving to the Grove at a point.
One of the security operatives deployed to the gathering said it might be counterproductive to arrest people at the Grove considering a large number of participants.
The security, who would not want his name mentioned, said: “Government should have declared lockdown in Osogbo today.
“We would have been able to enforce the restriction of movement and keep people away from the Osun Grove.”
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