Chief Imam Drags Soun Of Ogbomoso To Court Over Alleged Plan To Remove Him

The Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Afolabi Ghandi Olaoye, and the Soun In-Council have been dragged to court by the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso, Taliat Yunus Olusina.

The Chief Imam claimed the defendants were planning to remove him from the office.

In the suit marked HOG/7/2024 before the Oyo State High Court, Ogbomoso Division, the Imam claimed that the defendants threatened to remove him as the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso.

In the affidavit in support of the motion on notice sworn to at the High Court Registry, Ogbomoso, on February 12, the defendant said he was appointed the Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land by the Surah committee of the Muslim Community in Ogbomoso land.

The defendant in the document, insisted that the defendants were appointed to rule under the laws and customs of Ogbomoso according to the traditional titles they hold and have no power to remove him from office.

He added that the Central Mosque in Ogbomosoland and other mosques and the administration of the mosques are the responsibility of the Muslim community, headed by the Chief Imam.

He urged the court to stop the defendants from removing him from the office.

He said, “I say that the central mosque in Ogbomoso and other mosques and the administration of the mosques is bestowed on the Muslim community headed by the Imam, Chief Imam, or Grand Chief Imam, of which I am one. I know that the appointment of an Imam anywhere in the world is regulated by Islamic rules and tenets as it is not a chieftaincy or hereditary title.

“I also say that the right to appoint the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land is the prerogative of Muslims in the Ogbomoso community, and the appointment is done under Islamic rules. I know that based on settled Islamic rules, the Imam is appointed by the entire Muslim community through a committee called the Surah Committee.

“The Surah Committee is a screening committee constituted by Muslim elders/leaders in the Muslim community to make decisions on Muslim affairs, which include the appointment of Imams.

“Following the demise of the immediate past Grand Imam of Ogbomoso land, Sheikh Al Aman Yekeen Adegboyega Asafa, sometime in October 2021, the need to appoint a new Grand Chief Imam for Ogbomoso land arose, and I was considered suitable for the position of Chief Grand Imam of Ogbomoso land after a screening exercise conducted by the Surah Committee led by Alhaji Alimi Surajudeen, the Parakoyi Adini of Ogbomoso land.

“I was appointed the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land in November 2021 and since then, I have been discharging my responsibilities as Grand Chief Imam under Islamic rules and tenets. However, the defendants, particularly the 1″ Defendant who is a Christian, sometime in January 2024, a few months after his installation as the new paramount ruler of Ogbomoso land, threatened to remove me as the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land.

“That the threat of my removal became more pronounced when 1 approached the Honourable Court to restrain the Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State from removing or suspending me as the Grand Chief Imam of Ogbomoso land and an interim order was granted to that effect”.