There was pandemonium in Igbo-Ora, Ibarapa area of Oyo State, as a sea of youths blocked the convoy of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, when he wanted to leave the venue of an event held in the community.

The royal father was in the town on Saturday for the celebration of this year’s annual World Twin Festival.

As gathered, the confrontation turned chaotic and forced security agents attached to Oba Owoade to fire warning shots into the air to disperse the crowd and clear the way for his convoy.

It was learnt that the incident began when the youths surrounded the royal convoy, demanding money from the monarch before he would be allowed to depart.

Security agents initially tried to calm the situation, but the crowd soon grew larger, prompting the security personnel to take a drastic step.

Videos shared on social media showed a tense atmosphere as warning shots rent the air.

“They have locked the gate against the Alaafin. They don’t want him to go,” an eyewitness said.

A post on X read: “Scary moment in Igbo-Ora as youths reportedly blocked the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Owoade, from leaving an event, prompting his security team to fire shots in the air to disperse the crowd.”

The Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin, Mr Bode Durojaiye, confirmed the incident.

He said no live bullet was fired.

Durojaiye said: “They are street urchins who wanted to collect money from the king. They were forceful. The security appealed to them but they went weird. Security agents could not open their eyes and allow urchins to rough-handle the monarch. It is better imagined than experienced. The security agents, therefore, fired canisters of tear gas to scare them. No live bullet was shot at anybody.

“They need to comport themselves even if they wanted to collect.” (The Guardian, but headline rejigged)