A Yoruba monarch Oba Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II of Oyotunji African village in Beaufort County, Southern Carolina, United States of America, has been reportedly stabbed to death by his sister.
Authorities say the deceased was stabbed during a heated argument on Monday, July 29, 2024.
According to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the BCSO communications center received a report of a stabbing around 2:45 p.m. at the village, which is located on Bryant Lane.
The victim identified as a 47-year-old man, was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his wounds.
The suspect was identified as Akiba Kasale Meredith, 53, who had left the area on foot.
Meredith was found a short time later. She was charged with murder and taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center.
The investigation continues on the incident.
Oyotunji African Village is a village located near Sheldon, Beaufort County, South Carolina that was founded by Oba Efuntola Oseijeman Adelabu Adefunmi I in 1970.
Oyotunji village is named after the Oyo empire, and the name literally means Oyo returns or Oyo rises again.
Oyotunji village covers 27 acres and has a Yoruba temple which was moved from Harlem, New York to its present location in 1960.
During the 1970s, the era of greatest population growth at the village, the number of inhabitants grew from 5 to between 200 and 250.
The population is rumored to fluctuate between 5 and 9 families as of the last 10 years.
It was originally intended to be located in Savannah, Georgia, but was eventually settled into its current position after disputes with neighbors in Sheldon proper, over drumming and tourists.
Since Adefunmi’s death in 2005, the village had been led by his son, Oba Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II.
The village is constructed to be analogous to the villages of the traditional Yoruba city-states in modern-day Nigeria, although modernization of the village’s public works have been carried out under Adefunmi II.