Destiny Boy died of illness, not rituals – Mother clarifies

By Folashade Olorunfemi –

Mrs Saidah Adeshina, mother of the late Afro-pop star, Afeez Adeshina, popularly known as Destiny Boy, has revealed the cause of her son’s death.

The cause of Destiny Boy’s death had remained unclear since the news went viral, but clarity emerged following his mother’s interview with the media earlier today.

Mrs Adeshina confirmed that her son’s illness was caused by a pre-existing ailment in his body and not poison or money rituals, contrary to speculations. The bereaved mother further disclosed that Destiny Boy had been battling an ailment called “Ogun Oru” for the past two years, after the birth of his first child.

According to her, “Destiny went to rest. What a lot of Nigerians don’t know, I will reveal today. To start with, when Destiny had his first child, Ifayomi, his spiritual father, gifted him a cow. His ailment started when he was about to go and receive the gift. He suddenly held his head and fell.

“We took him to the hospital and informed Ifayomi, who paid for his treatment and later told us to bring him to his place to seek spiritual healing because we couldn’t find a cure. Ifayomi gave me a soap to bathe Destiny with, after which he became calm.

“The ailment used to give him seizures like epilepsy. Whenever he regained consciousness, he would act irrationally. We visited different herbalists and pastors but found no permanent cure.”

Speaking on speculation that her son was poisoned, Destiny Boy’s mother affirmed that he was neither poisoned nor involved in any form of money rituals. She added that the ₦2 million car he bought was acquired through a long-term contribution scheme, contrary to reports circulating in the media.

Mrs Adeshina further clarified that Ifayomi, also known as Oba-Edun, is a family friend and Destiny Boy’s spiritual father, and did not involve him in money rituals.

She also disclosed the medical and spiritual steps taken to cure the ailment, adding that she had personally bought tablet medication for Destiny, which he took only once before his father discarded it, claiming spiritual treatment was more effective than medical care.

In addition, Mrs Adeshina confirmed that her son died in a hospital after a recurrence of his seizures, which caused him to spend the night there before he eventually passed away.

Destiny Boy’s death was confirmed on Sunday by his close friend, Bolisco, after a video of his lifeless body surfaced online through a colleague’s TikTok account. The clip showed his nostrils visibly blocked with cotton wool as he lay on a stretcher.

Ogun Oru, a Yoruba term meaning nocturnal warfare, is a condition reported in south-west Nigeria involving severe night-time disturbances traditionally attributed to spiritual attacks during sleep.

The condition is believed in some quarters to be curable through Christian prayers or extensive traditional rituals aimed at exorcism.

Conversely, Ogun Oru is also associated with medical conditions such as parasomnias, including night terrors, sleepwalking and sleep paralysis, and is sometimes linked to epilepsy.