The feud between the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye and the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheik Teliat Yunus Ayilara appears not abating even after an Oyo State High Court restrained the monarch from removing the Chief Imam.

This is as camps of the Soun and the Imam, yesterday engaged each other in a war of words.

Justice K.B. Olawoyin of an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ogbomoso had yesterday barred the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye and kingmakers in Ogbomoso land, led by Chief Sobalaje Otolorin from removing the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Sheik Teliat Yunus Ayilara.

Both the Soun and the Chief Imam have been in supremacy battles in the last few months.

The Nation learnt that Muslims in the town under the auspices of ‘Registered Trustees of Ogbomoso Muslim Youths Forum,’ had dragged the traditional ruler and the kingmakers who are members of Soun-In-Council to court over the planned removal of the cleric.

The case with the suit number HOG/31/2024, filed at Oyo State High Court Ogbomoso Division, has Registered Trustees of Ogbomoso Muslim Youths Forum as plaintiffs, while the Soun and the Soun-In-Council are the defendants.

The court, presided over by Justice Olawoyin, on Wednesday 26th June, 2024, barred the traditional ruler and the Soun-In-Council from removing the Chief Imam.

It barred the “defendants/respondents whether by themselves, their agents, privies, officers under their control, or any persons acting on the instruction of the defendants/respondents from suspending or removing the holder of the office of Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomosoland (in the person of Alhaji Yunus Olusina Ayilara) or in anyway disturbing or tampering with the office of Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.

“The defendants/respondents and their agents, servants and/or privies and/or any persons acting under their control or on their instructions are also restrained in the interim from doing anything under any guise whatsoever to interfere with or impede the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land from carrying out the functions and duties of his office as Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land pending the hearing and determination of the Motion On Notice filed herein.

“I put on record that I have taken judicial notice of the full names of the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land as Alhaji Taliat Yunus Olusina Ayilara and that of the 1 defendant/respondent as His Imperial Majesty Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye (Orumogege III), the Soun of Ogbomoso land.

“The hearing of the Motion on notice dated and filed 26/6/2024 is adjourned to 1/7/2024.”

Following the lingering feud between the Soun and the Chief Imam, a Muslim professional group has called for caution and urged the Christian Associations of Nigeria (CAN) to intervene.

The group under the aegis of ‘No Dull Moment in Islam (NDMI),’ also implored the intervention of the Redeemed Christians Church of Christ (RCCG).

The group through its Coordinator and the Secretary, Professor Abdurazaq Kilani and Barrister Mojeed Abolore Oloyede in a statement made available to The Nation in Osogbo, Osun State, demanded that Oba Ghandi should withdraw a query letter dated 10th June 2024, served on Ayilara, over trip to Saudi Arabia without his permission.

According to the release, “the provocative shenanigans against the Imam must stop forthwith. The order that Soun issued for Chief Imam to return home from Hajj is affront to Muslims in Oyo State.

“We call on the Christian Association of Nigeria and the leadership of The Redeemed Christian Church of God where Oba Ghandi Olaoye was ordained as a pastor to call the monarch to order and tell him to stop his overbearing incursion into the affairs of Muslims in Ogbomosoland which may ignite religious violence.”

NDMI insisted that Chief Imam has not breached the oath of office he took contrary to the allegations by Oba Ghandi in the query.

“The fact that the palace is accorded a privileged position to have a say in the appointment of an Imam does not in any way translate to the over-lordship stance by any Oba in the affairs of Islam and Muslims in his domain as in the case of Ogbomoso presently.”

Another Islamic group,  the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) also warned the Soun not to set Ogbomosho on fire.

A statement by the founder and Executive Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola reads, “The Soun of Ogbomoso wants the Chief Imam to take permission before going on pilgrimage to Makkah. This is akin to asking the Chief Imam to come to the palace every morning to take permission before going for salat (prayer) because Muslims go to Makkah to worship Allah and they also observe Salat for the same purpose.

“This is a clear infringement on Allah-given fundamental human rights of the Chief Imam and a violation of Section 38(i)&(ii) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which guarantees freedom of worship. It should be noted that Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and it is enshrined in the divine scripture of Islam, the Glorious Qur’an (22:27).

“The most annoying part of the query is where the king commanded the Chief Imam ‘to immediately return to Ogbomoso’ from faraway Saudi Arabia. It is ludicrous, odorous and odoriferous.

“This implies very clearly that Oba Ghandi, a human being, commanded the Chief Imam to abandon the worship of Allah in order to come and pay homage to him in his palace. It is preposterous, sacrilegious and therefore unacceptable.

“It is very strange that the Chief Imam was made to sign an undertaking before his installation. We are deeply disturbed by this because we have no doubt that it came up as a result of lack of mutual understanding. The undertaking was signed as far back as 2021 before Ghandi became king. He is now leveraging on it. MURIC is interested in this particular document.”

League of Imams, Alfas berates Chief Imam over insubordination to Soun
Meanwhile, Islamic Leaders in Ogbomosho, under the auspices of Special Committee on Islamic Affairs in Ogbomosholand, in conjunction with the League of Imams and Alfas in Ogbomosoland, yesterday berated the embattled Chief Imam over insubordination to the Soun.

The leaders described Ayilara’s act as insubordination not only to Soun, but also to the stool of Soun of Ogbomoso, saying Muslim in the town will not allow anybody to tarnish the image of the monarch.

Addressing newsmen, the Balogun Musulumi of Ogbomosholand, Alhaji Bello Ayobami said Muslims in Ogbomoso would not allow extraneous forces to cause disunity in Ogbomosoland.

He maintained that religion has never caused crisis in Ogbomoso despite having Muslims, Christians, and even traditional worshippers living together in the town.

He noted that the Soun has the prerogative to choose any Muslim from any family of his choice as the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land.

He said, “The steps taken by the Chief Imam have polarized and have caused deep division among Ogbomoso Muslims.

“The social media was awash with various derogatory, abusive, insults, defamation, and insubordination to the throne of Ogbomosoland. His Imperial Majesty, the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye Orumogege ll is innocent of all of these defamation and insinuation against him.

“We are hereby calling on the whole world to discountenance all these false accusations against His Imperial Majesty, the Soun of Ogbomosoland. We shall not allow some extraneous forces to cause disaffection amongst us in Ogbomoso. In every family compound in Ogbomoso, there are Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers and their bonded, and banded relationship has never caused any division amongst us.

“We intermarry, and celebrate every festival together as one united family. Any ruling house in Ogbomosland whose turn it is to produce a candidate for the throne can present any candidate of their choice, be it a Christian, Muslim, or traditional worshiper.

“Finally, we, the Muslim leaders who have a great stake in the affairs of the Muslim community, have taken the pains to explain how the Ogbomoso Central Mosque of Oja’gbo came into being and how it had been administered by the various Soun’s throne at any point in time.

“Our own peculiarity here in Ogbomoso is that the Ogbomoso Central Mosque is one an ancestral heritage of the Soun dynasty as the Kaaba – the Haram in Makka and the Masjid Anabawy in the Medina in the exclusive property of the Saudi Arabia Coyat Family.