Islamic leaders in the South-West have condemned Wednesday’s clash between some aides of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and an ex-spokesperson for the Senate, Dr Ajibola Basiru, at the Osogbo Eid prayer ground.
The PUNCH reported that trouble started at the Osogbo Eid ground when an aide of the governor approached Basiru and told him to vacate the front seat said to have been reserved for the governor, who was on his way.
The situation, which nearly degenerated into a free-for-all, forced the governor to leave the prayer ground without participating in the Eid prayers.
Reacting to the incident on Thursday, the Wakeel Muslimeen, South-West, Edo and Delta states, Sheikh Iskeel Awwal, warned politicians against turning Eid prayer grounds and mosques into political battlefields.
Awwal, who spoke with newsmen in Abeokuta, Ogun State, urged the Osun State Governor and other politicians in the state to respect religious leaders.
He said, “All Muslims in the South-West condemn what happened in Osogbo.
“We condemned the clash at the Eid prayer ground. They should not take politics into Eid prayer ground or mosque.
“Politicians should respect religious leaders and the religious leaders should respect political leaders.
“They should all fear Allah and know that Allah is above everybody; be it governor or senator.”
Meanwhile, Basiru has accused the spokesperson for the governor, Olawale Rasheed, of giving an incorrect account of the incident that occurred at the Eid praying ground on Wednesday.
Basiru was reacting to a claim by Rasheed that three busloads of hoodlums were seen at the Osogbo Eid ground before the arrival of the governor.
The ex-Senate spokesperson, who described the claim as untrue, said leaving the hoodlums in the area where they were reportedly seen, could mean a dereliction of duty by the governor, who has been empowered by the Constitution to provide security for the state he governs.
He said, “The CPS (spokesperson to the governor) said some hoodlums were seen in about three buses at Eid ground and up till today nothing has happened in terms of arresting and bringing them to books.
“The governor left the premises, leaving those thugs in the venue without arresting them up till now and he was supposed to be the Chief Security Officer? He swore to the constitution, Section 14, that security and welfare is the paramount responsibility of the governor. So, that statement by Olawale Rasheed is an indictment on the governor himself. Maybe he does know the implications on the office of the governor.
“Then to also say the governor arrived at a place to meet such a situation, means that the security around the governor is also porous because there is supposed to be an advance team that would have gone ahead to do security reconnaissance.
“Two things would have happened, either they are inefficient or outright liars.”
But while responding, Rasheed explained that, “There was an advance team, which had secured a space for the governor; Basiru hijacked the space and refused to vacate the space when approached by protocol officers first and later by Osogbo leaders.
“The handlers are smarter because SRJ agenda was to create violence and stampede, which he planned to blame on the governor. The presence of armed thugs was to kill and create a stampede, all of which will be blamed on the governor.
“But the team was smarter, hence, the governor leaving the venue and denying dark minds of their yearnings for blood.”
