The Alapete of Apete, Oba Raimi Bolarinwa Idowu and the Alawotan of Awotan, Oba Adebayo Dauda Omotosho have condemned the alleged discovery of human parts found with three suspects, Abdulrahman Opeyemi aka Alubarika, Taofeek Olalekan and Taiwo Akinrinola last Monday, saying that it is not only unIslamic, but showed that the suspects were pretending to be Muslims while involved in diabolical acts.
The traditional rulers spoke on Wednesday at a meeting held at De Aces Hotel, Apete, Ibadan, Oyo, and at which Imams, Alfas and other Muslim residents were present.
In his part, Oba Raimi said: “It is a terrible thing and we are not happy that the suspects live at Alapata community regarded as Apete.
“We have called a meeting and met with the police. From the meeting, we decided to bring together our Imams and Alfas since the suspects practice Islam. This is to deliberate on the sad incident and decide on steps to take to curb such an occurrence in our midst”.
The Alapete of Apete told the gathering that he had to summon all chiefs when the issue happened to deliberate on it.
“Where were we, where are we now and where are we going? Islam cannot be bastardised. People became afraid of keeping their children at Apete for fear of being killed. Quran has not taught us what was done by suspects.
“We went to the family house of one of the suspects where children are taught Quran and stopped it because it is contrary to what one of them did.
“You can’t be teaching Quran and engage in diabolic acts. We can’t regard them as Muslims again but pure native doctors with evil deeds.
“We are not happy that Apete is being mentioned negatively. This will create fear in parents who have children in the tertiary institution there, that is, The Polytechnic, Ibadan. We are also trying to find out who the victim is,” the monarch stated.
He appealed to the police and the court to ensure justice on the matter, saying: “We believe it is not a case where the suspects would be detained temporarily and later return as free persons. If it happens that way, it means the rest of us are not safe. People are already afraid to speak out because they want to avoid being targeted.
“Even after the law has taken its course, we will ask the suspects to leave Apete because we don’t want such people in our midst.”
The Alawotan of Awotan, Oba Adebayo Dauda Omotosho, also described the news as saddening, asking rhetorically: How could someone do that to a human being?”
Oba Omotosho also decried the incident and said that only those who don’t have the fear of God would do such a despicable thing.
He said that the suspects were just pretending to be Muslims to cover their tracks and would not be easily known since they bore no tags depicting their acts.
Noting that the devil started its evil deeds through human beings a long time ago, the Alawotan said that the way out of such unfortunate incident should be looked into in order to avoid recurrence or dragging Islam in the mud.
He promised that nothing would be hidden on the issue and enjoined Imams and their deputies to work together and not allow rancour among them that would result in elevating those with shady characters.
“Let us follow what God instructed us to do, whether as Muslims or Christians,” he advised, just as he disclosed that the community residents had declared them persona non grata and would not want them to live in their midst again.
“We don’t want to see them again. And they committed a capital offence, so we are sure of the right punishment for them,” Oba Omotosho stated.
The Imam of Awotan Central Mosque, Awotan, Alhaji Abdullahi Adedotun Adesina in his remarks said that the suspects’s act was shocking.
“What they did was unIslamic. Quran did not teach us to do so and there is no law supporting intentionally killing someone,” he said.
Alhaji Abdulfatai Ayilara, who is theBaale of Alapata Community where one of the suspects, Alubarika, was domiciled, said that he never knew him closely but believed that he was caught because his cup was full.
“We want law to take its course. The community residents have also protested to my place, saying that we should ensure that he does not return to their midst though he erected a building there.
“We will write Governor Seyi Makinde and the Commissioner of Police on the steps we want to take,” he said.
The Chief Missioner of Muslim Community in Apete and its environs, Alhaji Tajudeen Alowolese, expressed sadness that Apete Community had been stained by the suspects’s atrocity.
He disclosed that Alubarika was once accused of sending his followers to exhume a corpse from the grave, according to the confession of those caught, but denied the allegation and wrote a petition against him and about eight others for defamation.
The Chief Missioner appealed that the suspects should not be allowed to use connections to exonerate themselves from what they were caught with.
In his remarks, the Divisional Police Officer, Apete, CSP Rufus Akande Adegoke, cautioned everyone to speak on the truth and find solutions to the crime allegedly committed by members of the community
While urging the people not to distance themselves from the law but abide by it, CSP Adegoke however noted that some had defiantly acted against the laws, irrespective of the religion they practice.
“We should also be mindful of not tainting the tertiary institution in the community, The Polytechnic, Ibadan. Without truth and love for one another, there is no way a community can develop,” the DPO remarked.
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