Islamic leaders, traditional worshippers clash over corpse of suicide victim

Islamic leaders and traditional worshippers on Tuesday engaged themselves over the remains of one Muhammed Jamiu, a resident of Sabo, Sagamu area of Ogun State, who committed suicide by hanging on Monday evening.

The remains of the 32-year-old man was found dangling in his room at Yakubu Habibu Street, Agura, Sabo, Sagamu.

However, there was a mild drama as traditional worshippers seized the remains of Jamiu, a divorcee and father of one, arguing that certain rituals must be performed before the victim could be committed to mother earth.

This development did not go down well with the Muslim community as they insisted that the deceased would be buried according to Islamic injunctions.

The Chief Imam of Aduragbemi mosque, Sheik Nurain Ilyas, said the deceased was a practising Muslim till the unfortunate happened and wondered why traditionalists wanted to carry out rituals on him.

“His name is Muhammadu Jamiu. He is 32 years of age. He was an electrician. He was married with one kid but divorced many years ago.

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“He was an easy-going person. He used to pray in my mosque and I do admonish him to make his faith stronger. I think he committed suicide by hanging himself.

“The police came to inspect the scene. It happened yesterday (Monday) evening,” the cleric said.

Ilyas, however, said that the deceased did not leave any suicide note as a reason for his action.

Tribune Online gathered that the matter between the traditionalists and Muslims community was reported to the traditional ruler in the area as well as the Police.

He said that the traditionalists requested for a sum of N150,000 to carry out the ritual purpose which was rebuffed by them.

“They were asking for about N150,000 and was later reduced to N25,000 but we refused and did not give them a dime.

“We collected the key to Jamiu’s room from them. I don’t know their problem since Police have ordered that the corpse should be buried.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed the incident.