Police reopen Ososa mosque after one-year closure

Ososa Central Mosque in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State has reopened with Dr. Abdulfatai Jamiu as its Chief Imam. This came one year after the police shut the mosque following a fracas between two factional Muslim groups in the community. The factions were contesting the right to produce the Imam that would conduct the Eid-el-fitr prayers. The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Odogbolu, Mr. Akinola Eludini, and some police officers led the council members last Thursday into the mosque, while the installation of Jamiu took place on Friday. A state High Court in Ijebu Ode had removed the former Chief Imam, Alhaji Taoreed Idris, and ordered him to stop parading himself as the Chief Imam of the community. Ososa, the hometown of the late Nigerian doyen of theatre, Chief Hurbert Ogunde, has been in crisis over the leadership of the Muslim community since 2009. The crisis had divided the Muslim leaders and faithful into two camps, resulting in the state government banning the celebration of the Muslim festivals in the town to avert a breakdown of law and order. During last year’s Eid-el-fitr, violence broke out in the town over which of the chief Imams should lead the prayer session, a development that forced the police to lock up the mosque. However, installing Jamiu on Friday, the Chairman of Ososa Muslim Council, Alhaji Abiodun Amusa, noted that following the court ruling, the council had the right to appoint, install and remove any errant cleric overseeing the mosque. Amusa stated that as the body administering the Muslims in Ososa, the council’s decision remained supreme in matters pertaining to the Islamic faith in the town.