A Nigerian adult movie star has been arrested and charged for allegedly recording a porn movie in a sacred grove.
On Monday when he was brought before a Magistrates’ Court, Tobiloba Jolaosho, popularly known as King Tblak HOC, was remanded in custody by the court for violating the Osun-Osogbo sacred grove in Nigeria’s Osun State.
Magistrate Isola Omisade of Magistrates’ Court in Osogbo remanded the 27-year-old pornstar and five others at Ilesa Correctional Centre before adjourning the matter until Sept.17.
Those remanded alongside King Tblak HOC are Ladiva Aije, 22, Juliet Semion, 24, Ahmed Olasunkanmi, 23, Adeniran Eritosin, 29, and Tunde Jimoh, 27.
Police Prosecutor, ASP Idoko John told the court that the defendants were caught in the nude or half-naked before they were apprehended by the security authority.
He told the court that the defendants conspired among themselves to carry out the act at the Osun-Osogbo traditional shrine, being a religious ground of worship
John said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 516,233,517, of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol ll, Laws of Osun ,2002
They were said to have commited the act on July 25 around 12.30pm.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Osun-Osogbo sacred grove, home to Osun, the Yoruba goddess of fertility, is a Unesco world heritage site in a forest on the outskirts of Osun state.
According to the police, King Tblak HOC had recorded a ‘sex movie’ in the site.
Footages from the video showed King Tblak HOC, a popular porn movie producer with a huge following, dressed in the white robe of adherents of the Osun deity.
The videos were posted on his website and social media accounts.
It is not clear how he entered the forest, which can be accessed from many routes.
A follower of the deity, Yemi Elebuibon, who is known as the Araba of Osogbo, said King Tblak HOC desecrated the grove, which was a sacred land where worshippers from Nigeria and elsewhere offer prayers and sacrifices to the Osun goddess.
“The traditional worshippers in charge of the grove will decide on what punishment to mete out to him after the police conclude its investigation,” Mr Elebuibon said.
Declared a World Heritage Site in 2005, Unesco describes the grove, as “one of the last remnants of primary high forest” in southern Nigeria and “as the abode of the goddess of fertility Osun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods”.
The Osun goddess, according to Yoruba mythology, was one of the many wives of Sango, a powerful deity in Yorubaland.