The group faulted the monarch’s appointment of another grand chief imam he tagged: ‘palace Chief Imam,’ while the substantive Chief Imam is still in office, suggesting that the new appointment may have other sinister ideas.
MURIC, in a statement by the Executive Director of the human rights organization, Prof Ishaq Akintola, reads: “It will be recalled that the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, Orumogege III, recently appointed a ‘palace Imam’ even though his palace has no mosque.
“It was allegedly stated that the ‘palace Imam’ would be representing the Muslim community in all dealings with the Oyo State government while there was a substantive Chief Imam for the town.”
MURIC alleged that the new ‘palace Imam’ is a reserved replacement for the substantive Chief Imam whenever ‘anything’ happens to the Chief Imam.
“The appointment of this ‘palace Imam’ while a substantive, capable and active Chief Imam is in office and performing naturally raises eyebrows. It is alien to the culture of Islam and it has never happened in Ogbomoso.
“This is where the security agencies need to show interest because those who were so desperate that they went as far as contriving to bring in a ‘palace Imam’ despite a court injunction may have other ideas,” Akintola stated.
The group however commended the state Police Command “for the neutral, professional and laudable role it has played in the matter so far.
“However, we appeal to the Command to make the safety of the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso one of his major security priorities. Prevention, they say, is always better than cure.
“This is important in order to maintain the peaceful atmosphere that the city of Ogbomoso in particular and Oyo State in general is well known for. There is no gainsaying the fact that the Imamate affair of Ogbomoso has attracted the attention of Nigerian Muslims as a whole.
“The Muslim Community in Nigeria is therefore watching with keen interest. The Chief Imam of Ogbomoso must not disappear into thin air,” he stressed.
