The Ondo State Government has closed down the Ikare Central Mosque following heightened tensions arising from a power tussle between the Chief Imam, Abubakar Muhammed and the Ikare Muslim Council.
Ikare is in Akoko North East Local Government Area of the state.
While the council, backed by the monarch of the town, the Olukare of Ikare, Saliu Momoh IV, had sacked the Chief Imam, the League of Imams and the Ondo State Council for Islamic Affairs had rejected the removal of the cleric. This created a tension within the Muslim community in the town.
Mr Muhammed’s sack letter was issued on the 10 October and signed by Ikare Muslims Council’s chairman, Adewale Abayomi, and the Secretary, R. Aiyegbusi.
Muslims in the town, last Friday, attended the Jumat service at the Central Mosque presided over by the embattled Imam amidst heavy security.
Despite appeals from different quarters, the council and the Muslim community, it was gathered, are bent on removing the Chief Imam.
At the state executive council meeting on Monday, the governor approved the closure of the mosque pending the resolution of the crisis.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Richard Olabode, confirmed the closure and added that it necessary to forestall breakdown of law and order.
“The only way for now is to close down the mosque so as to allow peace to reign,” he said.
