Results of spirited efforts by our correspondents to locate Araromi-Oke, said to be a quiet Yoruba farmers’ settlement believed to have existed between Oyo and Osun states but disappeared overnight in 1957 have cast doubts over its actual existence in the first place.
Araromi-Oke was said to be a Yoruba settlement where hunters went to worship Ogun. One morning in 1957, neighboring villagers were said to have discovered that the town had gone without any attack or destruction, emptied with houses intact, without any human found, and no corpse or sign of struggle or mass relocation seen.
Our correspondents who attempted to solve the mystery found out that there are three villages named Araromi villages in the area-Araromi Owu in Ayedire local government area, Araromi Oke-Odo in Ife South local government area and Araromi Itagunmodi in Atakumosa East local government area, all in Osun State.
The traditional ruler of Araromi Oke-Odo in Ife South local government area, Baale Wahab Anigilaje, told LEADERSHIP that he had never heard of any settlement called Araromi-Oke, adding that as a traditional ruler, he knew there was a link among all settlements that bear Araromi in any location in Yorubaland.
The monarch, however, admitted that though Araromi Oke-Odo ancestors settled at a location not far from their present settlement, they had to migrate to their present settlement to gain access to water as they were predominantly farmers.
He noted that though there was migration, there was nothing like their forebears disappearing overnight, adding that 1957 as quoted in the viral story could not be real because villages at that time were shanties with leaves as roofing cover, in contrast to the zinc roofings of the houses that appeared in the picture accompanying the Araromi-Oke viral story.
When contacted, an indigene of Araromi Owu in Ayedire local government area of Osun State, Mr Kolawole Amuda, said all Owu communities all over Yorubaland shared the same history and were united in deeds.
He noted that Araromi Owu never had the history of inhabitants at any location disappearing overnight though Owu people are mobile and found all over Yorubaland.
Araromi Itagunmodi in Atakumosa East local government area has other settlements such as Arigbabu, Mokuro, Itagunmodi town among others but had no history of one Araromi-Oke which disappeared with its inhabitants overnight.
Araromi Itagunmodi, though an ancient community, also has no history of any community bearing Araromi-Oke that disappeared overnight, our correspondents further gathered.
