Heavy security as Osun-Osogbo festival climaxes

There was a heavy security presence in Osogbo on Friday as the annual Osun-Osogbo festival reached its climax.

Our correspondent reports that armed personnel of the Nigerian Army, Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were deployed at strategic locations and along roads leading to the groove.

Security patrol vans with armed personnel were also sighted within and around the groove.

Regular participants at the annual event, including members of the Osun Peoples Congress (OPC), local hunters and vigilante groups, were also present, some bearing dane guns.

Traditionalists, tourists and devotees of the Osun deity thronged the groove, with many seen fetching water from the Osun River.

Some female devotees, dressed in white, were observed carrying what appeared to be sacrificial offerings in calabashes on their heads, while the sound of local drums filled the air.

Our correspondent further reports that food and souvenir vendors capitalised on the influx of visitors to record brisk business.

The festival, which began on July 27, is expected to culminate in the symbolic ritual involving the Arugba, a young maiden who carries a calabash as an offering to the river goddess.

The Osun-Osogbo festival, which dates back several centuries, is traditionally held in a sacred groove on the outskirts of Osogbo between July and August.

It is one of the last remaining sacred forests that once bordered many Yoruba cities before extensive urbanisation.

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

For the people of Osogbo, the festival symbolises the traditional cleansing of the town and a cultural reunion with their ancestors and founders.