Oloolu festival : Female TikToker Breaks Silence, Denies Filming Masquerade

The female TikTok content creator at the centre of the controversy surrounding the annual Oloolu Masquerade Festival in Ibadan, Oyo State, has denied reports that she filmed the sacred Oloolu masquerade, insisting that she neither recorded the revered traditional figure nor died as widely speculated on social media

Speaking via telephone during an interview on Lagelu FM’s Ibi Aye N Lo programme hosted by Adesoye Omotosho on Monday, the woman, identified as Wasilat, also dismissed rumours of her death.

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

“What happened that day, last Thursday, around the Oremeji axis, I don’t know what prompted me to go to our shop because I was at home.

“When I got to the shop, I didn’t even open it. I just stayed in front of the shop because we had packed up from that area.

“When I saw people passing, I saw an Amotekun vehicle passing. Oloolu did not even pass through that route.

“So I filmed it and posted it on social media. Everyone in the TikTok comment section asked me to delete it. The following day, while I was at the shop, they came to meet me there.

“I do not know why the eyewitnesses on Thursday did not defend me. I don’t know who came up with that agenda, but I know God will judge,” she said.

PUNCH Online had earlier reported that the content creator allegedly narrowly escaped death after reportedly filming a procession linked to the Oloolu Masquerade Festival.

The incident sparked widespread reactions after videos surfaced online showing her undergoing traditional cleansing rites at the Oloolu compound.

Speaking with PUNCH Online on Monday, the spokesperson to the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Chief Adeola Oloko, said the woman did not record the sacred Oloolu masquerade itself but mistakenly captured Alawo Oloolu, a figure associated with the Oloolu tradition.

“She did not capture Oloolu; she mistook it for Alawo. We contacted the Mogaji of the Oloolu compound, and he confirmed that a woman who mistook Alawo of Oloolu for the real Oloolu masquerade captured it on the street,” Oloko said.

He added that after uploading the footage, the woman reportedly developed unusual health challenges, prompting her family to seek intervention from the traditional custodians.

“After posting it, she realised the blood in her body began to dry. So her family reached out to the Oloolu people immediately, and they attended to her in accordance with the tradition of the land.