The king stormed out of the palace fuming.. Guards, he roared in a mighty voice, where are the guards he demanded?
Everyone around could instantly tell that all was not well.
King Ayo was sweating profusely and the tension in the palace that morning was really on another level.
Which of you, have seen my Offor he asked? What? How could the Offor be missing?..who had the guts to enter the palace and steal such prized possession without getting caught. Is the king out of his mind?
How could the king ask such a question? The guards had thought in their heads..
The Offor is the absolute symbol of authority in the Oye kingdom. Without the Offor the Kingdom had no king.
Get me the chief priest the king demanded. Not before long the chief priest appeared in the palace. The chief priest was a very mysterious man, rumor has it that he had journeyed to the land of the spirit when he was young.
The chief priest sat on the floor with a red mat placed on the floor, he sang a few strange songs and threw three pieces of cowery to the floor.
Chaiii, he shouted.. The toad does not run in the afternoon for nothing.
My king the gods have revealed to me that your enemies are at work, there's a footprint at the back of the palace, the thief while in a hurry to escape through the wood left a footprint there and we must catch him.
You must block the exit of the village and summon every young man between the age of twenty-five to thirty immediately to the palace this evening.
When all the young men gathered to the palace that faithful evening, the chief priest quickly went round the footprint seven times while singing loudly to himself. He sprayed a powder like substance on the footprint and told all the young men in the village to line up and start placing their left foot on the footprint
One by one they all started placing their left foot on the print, when it got to Tolu's turn he tried to run away but he was caught and forced to place a foot on the print.
Immediately, he placed his legs and he got magneted.
He was the thief and he had mistakenly left evidence. Tolu the son of Maazi Yemi was a nonentity in the village and this time around the chicken has come home to roost
He was forced to confess and made a shocking revelation that it was the King's special adviser and second in command that sent him to commit the crime. Everyone was shocked at this revelation.
He was forced to take them to the place where the Offor was hidden and peace was restored to the entire community.
The end..