Governor Ademola Adeleke has responded to the appeal of the Ijesa Muslim Community on the ongoing Ilesa road dualisation, reassuring the Muslim faithful that there is no plan to demolish the Ilesa Central Mosque.
The Governor who spoke through his Spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, noted that the assurance given during the ‘Ipade Imole’ remains.
He urged the Muslim ummah not to entertain any fear as the mosque would remain intact as only the extended canopies would be affected.
The Governor has also directed officials of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to interface with the Muslim leaders on the subject matter.
While commending stakeholders for actively supporting the ongoing dualisation at Ilesa, the Spokesperson explained that the Governor is committed to the implementation of the multi-billion naira Infrastructure upgrade with a focus on local content and active community engagement and collaboration.
The death toll has risen to at least 87 people after a mosque suicide bombing which targeted policemen in the city of Peshawar in Pakistan.
The mosque is within a high-security police headquarters area and a probe is underway into how the bomber got in.
Pakistan’s PM and other leaders have condemned Monday’s attack – one of the worst in the country in recent years.
The Pakistani Taliban has denied involvement after an initial claim by one of its commanders.
“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” said PM Shehbaz Sharif. He declared a national day of mourning.
On Tuesday, rescuers were still scrambling to retrieve worshippers buried in the rubble, with a spokesman telling the BBC the operation would continue for another three hours.
“The rescue operation has been going on for more than 18 hours,” Mohammad Bilal Faizi said.
“The bodies of 20 more people have been recovered and it’s feared that some bodies may still be under the rubble.”
According to the report, ambulances raced in and out of the compound every few minutes.
A hospital spokesman confirmed that more than 100 remained wounded. Meanwhile, funerals have been carried out for more than 20 police officers, their coffins draped with the Pakistan flag.
The bodies of the dead had started to be returned to their families.
Between 300 and 400 police officers had been in the area at the time, Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan earlier told local media.
The mosque is in one of the most heavily controlled areas of the city, which includes police headquarters and intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus. On Tuesday, local media lined the road outside the gates – the closest that security would allow.
Mr Sharif said those behind the attack had “nothing to do with Islam”. He added: “The entire nation is standing united against the menace of terrorism.”
The Pakistan Taliban – a group separate to Afghanistan’s Taliban government – ended a ceasefire in November, and violence has been on the rise in the country since.
In December it targeted a police station – like Peshawar, in the north-west of the country – leading to the deaths of 33 militants.
Monday’s blast took place around 13:30, during afternoon prayers in the north-western city, which is near the country’s border with Afghanistan.
An entire wall of the building collapsed, and the mosque was covered in bricks and debris as people clambered over the rubble to escape.
Hours after the blast, BBC News witnessed a facility full of the injured, many still wearing their police uniforms.
Some were covered in burns cream, their skin red with burns from the explosion. Others have broken bones from being hit by falling rubble.
One man said he still could not hear because of the sound of the blast. Another man said he had been rescued after being trapped under the rubble for almost an hour.
The prime minister travelled to Peshawar on an emergency visit, where he will be briefed by local officials and visit those wounded by the blast.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack, with his spokeswoman saying: “It is particularly abhorrent that such an attack occurred at a place of worship.”
The attack on the mosque took place at the start of a key week for Pakistani diplomacy.
On Monday, the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was due to visit Islamabad – although the trip was cancelled at the last minute because of bad weather.
On Tuesday, an International Monetary Fund delegation is meant to visit Pakistan as part of the process to unlock a bailout loan to prevent the country from defaulting.
Director General of Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency OYSADA, Dr Debo Akande has denied a story linking him to the deliberate closure of Islamic Praying Ground at the agency’s headquarters located in the Total Garden area of Ibadan.
It would be called that Muslim Community in Oyo State, MUSCOYS, had in a statement accused the director general of the Oyo State Agricultural, Oyo State Agri-Business Development Agency, OYSADA, Dr Akande of shutting down the Mosque and Christian Fellowship Centre within the agency’s premises.
According to the statement, the DG asked the adherents of the two faiths to worship in the same place.
However, in a statement, Dr Akande stressed that the development came as a shock to him and other good people of the state.
He also maintained that the description of him by the statement as “anti-Islam” and a despot who unilaterally decided to “stop Muslims from obeying the command of Allah,” runs contrary to everything that OYSADA stands for and represents.
He said: “OYSADA will not spend so much time dissecting the MUSCOYS press statement, it is important to clarify the circumstances which led to the OYSADA management requesting that the praying areas used by both Muslims and Christians at the agency be discontinued”.
The statement maintained, “We have deliberately used the phrase “praying area” because to describe the structure used as a “mosque” is demeaning.
OYSADA DG further stressed that the buildings in question are Muslim Praying Ground (Mosque), Christian Praying Ground (Chapel), Toilet and Store, noted that the facilities are currently not fit for use.
He maintained: “These were the major considerations that led to the temporary closure of these areas, contrary to what was presented in the statement, stressing that separate rooms were provided and assigned for prayers to Muslims and Christians.”
Some of the staff of the agency that spoke with journalists that were on an assessment tour of the facilities said the closure of the facilities became necessary due to the deplorable state of the affected structures.
A senior staff who briefed journalists on condition of anonymity stated that after returning from the pandemic break, they met the toilet in a deplorable condition, “the stench was so bad that we had to restrict the use of the worship centres, as well as that of the storage facility.”
He said, “The plan was to quickly renovate the place so that we can go back to using them. But as I speak to you the file is still being processed, we held a meeting with our boss, Dr Debo Akande that we are exposed to security threats as unknown faces were seen sleeping inside our worship centres during productive hours and even overnight.”
“After the fruitful meeting with our boss, this gate was constructed by the boss himself, but promised a befitting toilet, storage and praying areas for us.”
“We have been living together in peace and harmony here, there is no rancour between the Muslim and Christian faiths here. Some people just want to aggravate the situation to suit a narrative”. He continued
In his contributions, a former Director of Administrative Services at OYSADA and a Muslim, Mr Fajimi, told journalists that he was privy to be at the meeting held with members of MUSCOYS.
Mr Fajimi further maintained that there was no plan to keep the area permanently closed, stressing that Dr Debo used his personal resource to fix the gate at the entrance when he was approached over the insecurity of staff members’ lives and theft of the agency’s materials.
“We all agreed for the temporary closure of those affected structures due to their deplorable states and this was communicated to the leadership of MUSCOYS, who were urged to enable needed rehabilitation to be done.”
Mr Fajimi further stressed that “there was no plan to leave the place permanently closed. Dr Akande has said the place will be re-opened after meeting with management. [MUSCOYS] should have reported exactly what happened and not present this story the way they did. It is high time journalists verify their stories before dissemination, they should always try to find out the true situation before they begin to tell stories.”
“Come to think of it, if he is anti-Muslim for closing a mosque as stated in the falsehood report, is he also anti-Christian? Surely, if one religion was being exalted above the other, the Christians would be allowed to continue using their space while Muslims were stopped.”
“Interestingly, Alhaji Dawud Makanjuola Akinola the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Edo and Delta States, who has waded into the matter, saw the need to ensure the hygienic and pious worship by Ummah, by commencing the construction of modern toilet facilities for the OYSADA mosque. If there was nothing wrong with the facility, why would they want to expedite repairs?” Mr Fajimi asked.
