By JOSHUA OLADIPO

Security has been beefed up at the Osun-Osogbo grove as the festival begins to come to a close on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that armed security personnel were seen at the road leading to the grove as large number of devotees and tourists troop in.

NAN also reports that officers of the Nigerian Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and Joint Security Taskforce were stationed at strategic locations around the grove.

Soldiers were also seen in a parked van at the entrance of the grove, watching the participants closely.

Devotees of the Osun-Osogbo goddess were seen in their white attire heading towards the grove with drummers and other cultural dancers as early as 7:30 a.m.

Some devotees were also seen carrying jerry cans filled with water from the Osun river coming out of the grove.

NAN further reports that food and souvenir vendors took advantage of the influx of visitors to make brisk business.

The event, which started on July 28, is expected to end with a young maiden, Arugba (a virgin female girl), with a calabash on her head as a symbolic sacrifice to the river goddess.

NAN reports that the Osun-Osogbo festival, whose history dates back many centuries, is usually celebrated in a grove on the outskirts of Osogbo between July and August.

It is among the last of the sacred forests that adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanisation.

In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

For the people of Osogbo land, the festival represents the traditional cleansing of the town and the cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo Kingdom. (NAN)

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