Adegbola Abdulazeez, a popular Kwara traditional worshipper and activist known as Talolorun (Who is God), has been arrested and remanded in jail by a Magistrate Court in Kwara State for alleged defamatory statements against the Emir of Ilorin and some prominent Islamic clerics in the state.
According to The PUNCH, Talolorun was arrested in Ibadan on Wednesday, August 16 and taken to a police station in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Talolorun’s case may be connected to the ongoing controversial religious issues in the state following the insistence of the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu Gambari and some Islamic groups that Isese festival should not hold in the city.
He was also accused of burning the Quran on fire and insulting the Chief Imam of Offa, Muuhideen Hussein. He was also accused of describing a dead Islamic cleric as fake and inciting the public against the authorities in Ilorin.
In a YouTube video uploaded Thursday, Talolorun reportedly discussed the outcome of a previous meeting between Isese practitioners, their lawyer and the police regarding the ban on Isese festivals in Ilorin.
He was quoted by PUNCH as saying: “We (Isese devotees) went with our lawyer to the police station in Ilorin and everyone involved in this case was served, including the Emir of Ilorin.
“Isese devotees are peace-loving people, we are not troublemakers, we simply wanted to celebrate our festivals but were stopped and asked to seek permission. When Muslims want to celebrate Sallah, do they need permission to do this as well? Why demand that from Isese worshippers?
“The commissioner of police, who said we do not have permission to celebrate our festivals in Ilorin, has also been served court papers, he should come out and explain where this was stated in the constitution of Nigeria.
“Despite offering to change the location of our festival from the Yemoja river in the state to another, we were still denied this. Is the police not suppose(sic) to support and protect us? Now, the commissioner of police, the Emir of Ilorin, and everyone closely involved in this case have been served court papers.
“The proposed August 20th Isese day will hold even though these emirs have connived with the police to stop the celebration. I received so many threats from online bullies unbeknownst to me, these alfas were conniving with the police to ensure the festival never holds.
“You see at this point, those advocating for Isese devotees to stay away from Ilorin, need to stop. Is there another law besides the Nigerian constitution? We all have the right to worship.”
“At this point in this land of Ilorin, called the Emirate, the Isese worshippers will have the right to worship as well. Why is it so hard for the alfas to preach peace and allow everyone to celebrate how they wish? Shouldn’t we all be preaching and seeking for peace to reign in the same state we all love?” Talolorun asked.
Abdulkadir Ademola Ajasa, a lawyer told The PUNCH after the court session on Thursday that Talolorun’s arrest was not related to Isese.
“Before his arrest, the people of Isese visited the commissioner of police on Monday, seeking permission to celebrate the Isese festival in Ilorin.
“The Commissioner of Police told them that if a permit is granted, it will cause a lot of damage. They were advised to visit other places in Kwara State to celebrate the festival.
“The reason he was arrested is that he defamed the character of those mentioned earlier and he has always been inciting the public to go against Ilorin based on the atrocity he committed when he burned the Quran. If these things are not handled properly, it could lead to religious crisis,” the lawyer said.
Another cleric, who spoke in court also accused Talolorun of insulting the Muslim leaders, describing it as an act that will not be tolerated.
SaharaReporters reported Wednesday that a human rights lawyer and activist, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, had sued the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu-Gambari, for allegedly stopping traditional religion adherents from holding their Isese festival in Ilorin.
Omirhobo who confirmed this to SaharaReporters on Wednesday said he is asking the state high court to declare that the alleged action of the Emir and other Islamic clerics is a breach of the constitutional rights to “freedom of dignity of the human person, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly.”
SaharaReporters reported on Tuesday that the International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR) had decided to suspend its planned Isese festival in Ilorin, due to the prohibition of the festival by the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Police Force.
The council made the announcement on Tuesday via a statement signed by its President, Oluwo Solagbade Popoola.
The ICIR alleged that the police during a meeting with traditional worshippers on Monday declared that the proposed Isese Day which was earlier slated for August 20 should not hold due to security reasons.
In July, it was reported that a Muslim group, Majlisu Shabab li Ulamahu Society, went to the residence of a traditional religion priestess in Ilorin, to warn her not to hold her planned Isese celebration in Ilorin.
The priestess, Yeye Ajesikemi Olokun Omolara Olatunji, an Osun follower, had reportedly distributed posters announcing a three-day traditional celebration honouring various Yoruba deities.
However, the Muslim group, which described the Isese festival as idolatry, stated that the Emir of Ilorin had made a public pronouncement against such events.
In his suit, Omirhobo requests that the court rule that Ilorin, like the rest of Nigeria, is a multi-religious and multicultural society/city, and that "the respondent has no constitutional powers or authority to ban and/or prohibit the Isese festival in Ilorin, Kwara State, which made it impossible for the applicant to commune, felicitate, celebrate, merry, bond, and worship with the community of African traditionalist/Olokun worshippers."
He wants the court to make an order of “perpetual injunction” restraining the Emir and his agents “from embarrassing, coercing, bullying, harassing, intimidating, tormenting, torturing, dehumanising, debasing, and frustrating the applicant from enjoying his fundamental rights to dignity of his human person, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of movement with other Olokun worshippers in Ilorin, Kwara State in private and in public.”
The legal practitioner told SaharaReporters that the case had yet to be assigned to a judge by the state judiciary.
Peoplesmind
Credit: SaharaReporters
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