Inisa: Steer Clear, Don’t Impose Chief Imam, Clerics Warn Adeleke

An Islamic scholar, Abdulrasaq Amad, has warned Governor Ademola Adeleke to steer clear from the lingering crisis bedeviling Inisa Muslim Community, saying the governor should allow due Islamic process to take course in the selection of new Chief Imam of Inisa.

The cleric added that the issue is being currently addressed by the court, stating the current JUSUN strike in the state is responsible for the delay in the case.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Amad stressed that rather than imposing a Chief Imam, the State Governor should allow indigenes who has in depth knowledge on the process to do the needful.

Amad said, “We want to call on the Governor to please stay away from this matter, and allow Inisa indigenes home and aboard who have vast knowledge on how a chief Imam is being selected to carry out the process.

“We also urged the Olunisa of Inisa all the chiefs to please stay away from the Chief Imam selection process and allow due Islamic process be followed.

“We want due process like screening, qualities, exams among others Islamic process of selecting Imam be carried out.”

One of the contenders, who claim to have been decorated as the Chief Imam, Tijani Kolawole, narrated that “Muslims in the town selected me as the chief Iman, and I was being turbaned in the morning, but in the evening someone named Alhaji Abdulakeem was brought and decorated as the chief Iman.

“When it got to the level that Abdulakeem was bringing hoodlums to the mosque to beat people, an Islamic group sued the both parties to court that none of us should parade ourselves as the chief Imam, and the court ruled in favour of the group.

“So after this, the then Governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, called on all Osun imams to sort the tissues in selection of the chief Iman but should bring a neutral person to serve as an interim Imam.

Recently, we were invited to abere by the commissioner of Home Affairs, that he has invited the other parties that we should come to Abere, on getting there we were asked to write our names, phone number and introduce ourselves. We went there with the hope that they wanted to hear our side of the story, but to our surprises, despite the fact that the case is still in the court, the commissioner stood up and said the Governor Adeleke has instructed him to install Abdulakeem as the Chief Imam.

“We are putting our hope in the Judicial, because we believe the court is a place where we can claim our rights from the oppressors.

“When this incident happened the Governor wasn’t around, so we believed the he wasn’t aware but to our surprises the Governor came to Insha to perform Jumat prayer and raised Abdulakeem’s hand up as the Imam.

“We were moreover, further taken aback when on Friday 9th day of February, 2024 the current governor of the state led other members of his government in flag race disobedience to the order of court restrain the said Alhaji Abdulhakeem from leading prayers at Inisa central mosque.

“We are further surprised that the Governor will lead his own citizens towards reckless abuse and disobedience of order of a court of competent justification on a matter that is still pending.

“So we don’t understand that a Governor who reclaimed his mandate in court, will now alter a court case and say this is the person he installed. And the court has been on strike since so we don’t know the next step that is why we’re calling on the world to come to our rescue,” he narrated.

“We therefore use this opportunity to warn members of the public particularly Inisa Muslim community to be wary of the action of these cabals who are determined to foist on the court a situation of helplessness in a matter to which all parties have submitted adjudication to the judiciary which has always remained the last hope of the common man”, he said.

It would be recalled that the Imamship position of Inisa became vacant following the death of Imam Surakatu Asiyanbi, rahimahuLlaah, in July 2020 and since then Inisa Muslim Community has been enmeshed with crisis over who to become new chief Imam of the ancient town.