- Oba of Benin wades in
A power tussle is now raging at the Benin Central Mosque after two clerics, Alhaji Abdulfatai Enabulele, and Alhaji Jamiu Edosomwan, threw caution to the wind over the weekend, as they almost engaged in fisticuffs over who should lead the weekly Juma’at prayers.
Enabulele, who is the Chief Imam of Edo State, had, in the last 10 years, led the Juma’at prayers.
But the Chief Imam he replaced, Alhaji Jamiu Edosomwan, who was not pleased with the manner of his removal, approached the court for reinstatement, which he claimed was granted.
The Deputy Chief Imam was drafted in to lead the prayers amid tight security by the Police
He, as such, made to resume duties, which leading the Juma’at prayers was part of.
On the part of Enabulele, he said an appeal was presently before a higher court challenging the judgement of the lower court, hence he remained the Chief Imam.
It took the intervention of the Police to save the situation from degenerating into a free-for-all.
To ensure that the confusion created by the exchange of hot words and invectives between the two clerics did not affect the prayers, the Deputy Chief Imam was drafted in to lead the prayers amid tight security by the Police.
Meanwhile, the two factions involved in the fracas in the Benin City Central Mosque have been advised to maintain peace, and allow the law to take its course.
The advice was given by leading chiefs in the palace of the Oba of Benin, who include David Edebiri, the Esogban of Benin; Amos Osunbor, the Eson of Benin; and Eduwu Ekhator, the Obasogie of Benin; all of who were mandated by the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare Ogigigan II, to mediate in the matter.
According to the palace chiefs, they had a meeting with the two parties in the dispute, where they were told not to engage in violence or thuggery, but should allow the court to decide who the Chief Imam of the Benin City Central Mosque should be.
At the meeting, the two factions agreed to maintain the status quo until the final determination of the matter by a court of competent jurisdiction, and promised to cooperate with whoever emerges as the Chief Imam of Benin Central Mosque.
The chiefs also met with the law enforcement agencies to ensure that there was peace and tranquility in the Benin City Central Mosque, by not allowing any crisis to erupt from the worship centre.
The chiefs commended the Oba of Benin for his timely intervention, which they said would help to restore normalcy to the Muslim community in Benin City.