•The mosque
Police have arrested the Chief Imam of Ummu Hanni Adigun Memorial Central Mosque, Ogo-Oluwa area, Osogbo and three others after worshippers lynched a car painter, Najeem Hammed to death.
Family members of the deceased later disrupted Jumu’ah prayer at the mosque yesterday after the incident, reports The Nation.
It was gathered Hammed, a car painter whose workshop is located at Jaye area of Osogbo, had gone to the mosque along Ogo-Oluwa area to pray around 6am yesterday when the incident happened.
A source around the mosque who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that after the early morning prayer, the Imam was preaching when Najeem felt irritated by the words and threatened to attack the clergyman.
The source said: “Najeem attempted to use the microphone rod to hit the Imam but he dodged it. The worshippers took him up which he resisted. He was dragged outside the mosque, mobbed and left inside the gutter in front of the premises bleeding.
“Some members of the mosque notified the police at Ataoja Police Division, and they came to carry him from the scene to police state. He died along the way as a result of the assault.”
When our correspondent visited around 1pm, family members of the deceased were protesting in front of the mosque while the Imam was preaching ahead of Jumah’at prayer.
They insisted service couldn’t hold after Hammed was killed in the premises few hours ago.
Police operatives stormed the mosque and whisked the Imam away to Ataoja Divisional Police Division as the family members and sympathisers later took over the mosque’s entrance preventing worshippers from gaining access.
They threatened to burn the mosque if any prayer took place or any attempt was made to open the mosque.
A family member simply identified himself as Nurudeen said: “Najeem was beaten to death at the mosque by the worshippers after an altercation ensued in the mosque. He was going to Ibadan this morning but branched the mosque for Subuhi prayer when he was mobbed to death.
“When we called to ask about his journey a policeman picked up the call and told us that he had altercation with some people and was held at Ataoja police station. When we got there that was when we realised that he was dead.”
Bloodstains were sighted at the fence of the mosques and the plank of wood in front of the mosque.
When contacted the Osun Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi confirmed the incident.
He clarified that the victim was not attacked inside the Mosque but around it.
“We have arrested the Imam and three others connected to the incident. Further investigation has been launched to unravel the actual cause of the incident,” he stressed.
Ojelabi insisted that the deceased was mobbed around the mosque and not actually inside the mosque.
