The residents of Iseyin and other religious leaders from various places in Nigeria have called on Oyo State Muslim Community to institute a legal case for the prosecution of a Pastor of Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Imuse, Iseyin, who on Ileya festival day led a team of hoodlums in military uniform to attack and wound an Islamic cleric and his wives.
It was learnt that two of the wives, who were all clothed in Islamic purdah. one of whom was pregnant was molested, beaten to stupor and her leg broken by the enraged hoodlums.
The Pastor who was identified as Pastor Busari Stephen of CAC Karangba, Odo-omu Iseyin, Oyo State said to have been at a loggerhead for a long period of time with the Alfa over a land dispute.
It was gathered that the said land belonged to Alfa Sulaiyman AbdulAzeez Taiwo, as shown in document in his possession and that he had complained of encroachment of the passerby of his land to the Pastor but all turned to deaf ears.
It was gathered that on the eve of Sallah, Alfa got back from the praying ground and proceeded to slaughter his ram on a path which he created, he was confronted by his neighbour who is a Pastor as to why he was slaughtering ram on the path, the Alfa responded that it’s a portion of his compound that he just decided not to fence so as to avail neighbours who reside behind him a passage and he decided to slaughter his ram there because it is his land. The pastor became mad at the response and called his child who was said to be a soldier recruit and he came to the venue with accomplices and they started descending on the Alfa and his relatives.
The incident that has now drawn condemnation from people said to have begun on the Ileya day when the Islamic cleric began to slaughter his ram immediately after Eid prayer. It was learnt that he was heavily descended on by men who were clothed in military uniform allegedly led by the son of the pastor and in the process the Alfa and his wives were injured and one other person’s hand was cut with knife by the said hoodlums.
A resident who spoke to ODUDUWA NEWS under the condition of anonymity on the incident said, “It was learnt that the CAN chairman in Iseyin has been reaching out to the stakeholders and Muslim clerics in the town to downplay the incident and to prevent the incident from snowballing into a religious war by seeking a softland for the culprits to shield them from facing the wrath of law. All what we want is justice for the victims. We are peace-loving people but any attempt to victimize us will be resisted legally”.
In their words, Abdulhakim, Adebola and several others who spoke to ODUDUWA NEWS called on the Muslim community to rise to the occasion and ensure that all the culprits are brought to book. “The police must not compromise on this case at all. Muslim lawyers should act swiftly to ensure that justice is served on all the criminal elements who perpetrated this crime”.