Kebbi Mosque Crisis: Islamic group seeks government’s intervention
An Islamic organisation, Islahiddini Foundation of Nigeria on Sunday appealed to the Kebbi state and Bunza Local Governments to urgently intervene in the lingering crisis over the selection of the chief imam of Salwai Village to avert crisis.
Addressing journalists in Birnin Kebbi, the organisation’s National Chairman, Malam Umar Liman-Shagari said crisis erupted when the chief imam of the village died about four years ago.
He said it had been the tradition of the village over the years that when an imam was chosen from the Hausa extraction his deputy must be from the Fulani extraction.
“During the reign of late Village Head of Salwai, Abdullahi Amiru Salwai, the father of the present village head, he ensured that the two tribes of Hausa and Fulani were all carried along in the leadership of the mosque.
“When an imam happens to be a Hausa, his deputy must be a Fulani and in the event the imam dies, the deputy imam will automatically become the chief imam while another deputy will be sourced from the other tribe.
“However, the present Village Head, Alhaji Mande Amiru Salwai refuses to follow the footsteps of his father, instead he decided to impose a chief imam contrary to the interest of the majority,” he said.
He said following the lingering crisis, members of Islahiddini pulled out and built another mosque after following due process, adding that “however, to our greatest dismay last week, our members in person of Malam Aliyu Ma’anko and three others were arrested from Salwai village by the police.
“They were detained at the state CID office for four days and were asked to stop praying in the mosque they built after following due process.”
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He alleged connivance between the local government, the district head and the police right from the beginning of the crisis leading to his members being harassed, intimidated and arrested.
When contacted, the Chairman of Bunza Local Government, Alhaji Bello Mamuda said the council was aware of the crisis and measures were being taken to effectively tackle the matter.
Mamuda, who spoke through the council Secretary, Alhaji Garba Ibrahim-Gazai, said: “This is a case under traditional institution and as a council, we set-up a committee and all the parties involved were invited.
