Four people were allegedly injured when traditional religion worshippers attacked Muslims while they were praying in a mosque in Ile-Ile, Osun state.
According to reports, Muslim worshippers were inside the mosque on Thursday evening preparing for the 4pm (Asr) prayer when traditionalists carrying out the Pro ritual attacked the mosque.
According to sources, traditionalists in the town announced on Wednesday that the Oro cult will be observed in some parts of Ife between 2pm and 7pm, advising residents to avoid the areas.
Findings showed that the traditionalists thronged the mosque located at Idi-Omo, Ilare around 4 pm to disperse the worshippers who were performing ablution inside the perimeter fence of the mosque.
According to one of the worshippers in the mosque, Abdulazeez Bashir, the Oro adherents entered into the fence and started flogging worshippers with cane instructing them to leave the ablution area.
“One of them even attacked the Imam, Alhaji Abdullateef Adesiyan while coming into the mosque. He was beaten with a cane and hit him on the face with a rod.
“When I discovered that about five persons have been injured, apart from the Imam of the mosque, I had to call the Ife Chief Imam to intimate him of the happenings.
“The situation could have escalated into a big religious crisis when other Muslims began to gather around, but the traditionalists eventually ran away. The victims were later taken to hospital for treatment”, he said.
When contacted, the Osun Police Command spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola confirmed the incident, saying the investigation has been launched into the mosque invasion.
“We deployed our men to the scene and normalcy has returned to the area while we have commenced an investigation to the alleged mosque invasion.