Oro Worshipers Attack Imam And Congregation, Destroy Mosque Property.
Some Oro worshipers invaded a mosque in Idi-Iroko in the Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State on Saturday. They pelted the Imam and the congregation with stones, and chased them away. The Oro worshipers were also reported to have destroyed some properties in the mosque.
It was gathered that the Muslims incurred the wrath of the traditionalists by coming out during the Oro festival to observe their afternoon prayer also known as Zuhr.
According to the Wakeelul Muslimeen of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta states, Sheikh Iskeel Lawal, who explained the reason for the attack, residents of the community had been warned by the Oro adherents not to go out during their festival on Saturday.
He reported that Muslims in the area first complied with the directive, but later came out to observe the afternoon prayer, which led to the attack on them by the Oro worshipers inside the mosque.
Read Lawal’s statement below:
The incident occurred around 1.18pm on Saturday when our Muslim brothers were observing the Suhr prayer at the Umar bin Khatab Mosque at Odan-Aje, behind the General Hospital, Idi-Iroko.
The Oro adherents invaded the mosque and pelted the Imam and the congregation with stones, and chased them away. They later destroyed the property in the mosque.”We condemn the action of the Oro adherents and urge the government to intervene in the issue before it escalates.
It is not in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution that no one, whether he is a Muslim or not, must not go out on a particular day or time because of the Oro festival.
Everybody is free to practice what he wants; no one should impose his ideology on another person. The government must intervene before it becomes too late.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident, said the command had arrested some of the perpetrators.
