The Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, has drawn fierce criticism from his former wife, Queen Chanel Chin, who labelled him a “deadbeat father” after the monarch accused the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, of collaborating with her to bring him down.
Chanel, born in Canada to Jamaican reggae artiste Ludlow “Bobo Zaro” Chin, known for his collaborations with Capleton,.was a model and entrepreneur before marrying the Iwo monarch.
She reportedly met Oba Akanbi at a Lagos party during a visit to Nigeria in 2015, but their marriage collapsed in December 2019 after nearly three years.
The Oluwo announced their split citing “personal irreconcilable differences.”
Following the separation, Chanel was allegedly forced out of the palace, triggering a public spat filled with accusations of emotional abuse.
The controversy resurfaced on Tuesday after a video posted on Oluwo’s Instagram page went viral.
In the clip, the monarch alleged that the Ooni of Ife orchestrated a plot against him by “packaging” Chanel for marriage, claiming their relationship was a setup intended to destroy him.
“He (Ooni) was looking for my downfall, and the next thing, they packaged a woman for me. I don’t know her from Canada, but it was packaged for me. It was a setup,” Oluwo alleged.
He further claimed that Chanel poisoned him twice, attempted to assassinate him, and gave birth to a child whose paternity he now questions.
“She had a child, which I don’t even know if it’s mine. I have to confirm that through DNA,” he said, also accusing the Ooni of sheltering his ex-wife and engaging in an affair with her.
The monarch added that no traditional or spiritual power could harm him.
“Sango cannot kill me; Ogun cannot kill me. Only God determines when someone will die,” he declared.
Efforts to reach the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, for comments were unsuccessful.
However, in a statement shared on Instagram on Friday, Queen Chanel dismissed the Oluwo’s allegations as “false, misleading, and damaging to the sacred Yoruba traditional institution.”
She clarified that her introduction to the Oluwo came through a respected Lagos monarch, not the Ooni of Ife.
“I was introduced to Mr Akanbi by a respected Lagos monarch, not by the Ooni of Ife. During my time as Olori Oluwo, I regarded this Lagos monarch as my Royal Father and still do with respect,” she said.
Chanel also accused the monarch of abandoning their son, Prince Oduduwa, for more than five years, describing him as an irresponsible father.
“Mr Akanbi has been absent from Prince Oduduwa’s life for over five years. He only resurfaced in August this year in Canada, refused to sign passport papers, but dropped $500, the first support Oduduwa ever received from him since we left the palace,” she revealed.
She urged the public to disregard the Oluwo’s claims and called on traditional authorities to rein him in.
“This shall be my final statement on the matter. Prince Oduduwa remains my beloved son, and I hold the Yoruba people in deep love and respect,” she added.
Marriage built on falsehood
In a 2020 interview with The PUNCH, Chanel described her marriage to the monarch as one built on deceit. She rejected allegations of infidelity and poisoning, maintaining that she was used to elevate his public profile due to her foreign background.
“He used me to build his profile. People didn’t even know him before. He used me as a show horse, saying, ‘My wife is Canadian.’ He even named our son Oduduwa, a name elders later advised me to change,” she recounted.
Chanel also reaffirmed that their first meeting took place in Lagos in 2015—not in Canada as claimed by the Oluwo.
With both parties trading accusations, the long-standing rift between the Iwo monarch and his estranged wife has once again spilled into the open—this time drawing the Ooni of Ife into the controversy.
