A building located within the premises of the Ile Oodua Palace of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has been razed down by fire, destroying valuables.

According to a source around Enuwa, Ile-Ife, where the palace is located, the incident happened around 11:30 pm on Friday.

It was also learnt that when the smoke was noticed, the entire premises was thrown into panic, as those within the vicinity rallied efforts to prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of the palace.

A statement by the monarch’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, obtained in Osogbo on Saturday, said no casualty, no loss of cultural item or injury was recorded in the inferno and blamed the incident on power surge.

Meanwhile, the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has sympathised with Oba Ogunwusi, over the fire incident that gutted a building within the courtyard of his palace.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor described the incident as unfortunate and prayed for God’s protection on the monarch and his family.

The statement read in part, “I sympathise with our royal majesty, the Ooni of Ife over the fire incident that happened late yesterday night. It is unfortunate to experience such at this critical time. May the protection of God never depart from you, Kabiyesi.”