Osun State police command has arrested and detained the leader of masquerade worshippers in the state, Chief Kayode Esuleke, over the clash between masquerades and Muslims that claimed one life at a Muslim worship centre in Osogbo last Sunday.
The arrested leader who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state was rumoured to have led some masquerades and other traditional worshippers to a Mosque at Oluode Aranyin area of Osogbo to attack an Islamic group, Kamorudeen Society of Nigeria in the state capital.
Speaking on the arrest, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode said, he withdrew the case from the former Investigative Police Officer who was initially handling the case due to the request from the Islamic group.
“I transferred the case to IGP-IRT because one of the parties, the Islamic group, said they didn’t want the person handling the case,” the CP said.
Olawale, however, assured members of the public that a thorough investigation of the matter would be carried out.
It will be recalled that Many worshippers at Oluode Aranyin Mosque area of Osogbo, Osun State capital were last Sunday forcefully dragged out of the praying ground by masquerades who launched an attack on the mosque, killed one out of them and injured nine others.
The invasion of the Mosque by the masquerades in the afternoon of the day also compelled the Imam of the Mosque, Qusum Yunus to run away for his dear life.
While running, the sound of ” Laila, in lala” rented the air and some worshippers even forgot to escape with their children who followed them to the mosque for prayer.
Investigations revealed that trouble started on this ill-fated day when the masquerades first stoned members of the Kamorudeeen Islamic Society who were holding a prayer session at the mosque.
The reason for this remained cloudy as at the time of filing in this report but, was further learnt that, after stone-throwing, the masquerades brought out guns and shot repeatedly at the worshippers leaving, a prominent member of the society, the Baba Ijo of the mosque simply identified as Moshood Salawudeen dead in the process.
Many members also sustained various degrees of injuries in the pandemonium which said to have lasted hours.
One of the victims who identified himself as Munirudeen Abdul Lateef told our reporter that, before the commencement of the programme, security men comprising of police officers, Amotekun Corps members and others were on the ground but few minutes after their departure, the masquerades surfaced from an unknown place to inflict sorrows on the worshippers of the mosque.
Speaking on the incident, the Imam of the Mosque, Qusum Yunus confirmed the story and explained that, “members of the society were attacked by the masquerades during a program tagged “Prayer for the Nation” to pray for Nigeria over the rising insecurity.
The Chief imam who hinted that there was no disagreement between them and the masquerades said they had earlier passed through the area without attacking us but they later returned to where we all sat and started pelting us with stones and some policemen were in their company when they perpetrated the act.
“They later shot at us and used machete on us. One person was killed. We have taken the corpse to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital Morgue. Nine others are receiving treatment in other hospitals in Osogbo.”
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