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LequteMan
Guest
Muslims in Ekiti state on Tuesday staged a protest against plans by the Ayo Fayose government to demolish a mosques built near petrol stations in the state.
The marking of a mosque in NIPCO Filling Station in Adebayo area of the state for demolition on Monday sparked intense outrage from the Muslims.
A petroleum dealer, Alhaji Suleman Akinbami, built the mosque and donated it to the Muslim community. Ekiti state Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr. Tae Otitoju, marked it for demolition on Monday, saying worshipers could contract cancer from the radioactive emission from the petrol station.
This didn't sit down well with worshipers at the mosque. Outraged, they took to the streets on Tuesday to make their grievances known.
Angry youths marched from the central mosque at Oja Oba to Odo Ado area to brief the Chief Imam of Ekiti State, Alhaji Jamiu Kewulere, before moving to the palace of Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe.
Kewulere promised to intervene and cool things down.
The government defended its action. Otitioju said:
“The Ekiti State Government wants to make whoever comes to a fuel station safe. What the government is saying is that it is not safe to have a place of worship inside a filling station, whether a church, a mosque or even a shrine.
“The reason behind the move is the recent fire incident at a petrol station in Ado Ekiti, and we want to ensure that there are as few people converging at or around petrol stations as possible.
The marking of a mosque in NIPCO Filling Station in Adebayo area of the state for demolition on Monday sparked intense outrage from the Muslims.
A petroleum dealer, Alhaji Suleman Akinbami, built the mosque and donated it to the Muslim community. Ekiti state Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Mr. Tae Otitoju, marked it for demolition on Monday, saying worshipers could contract cancer from the radioactive emission from the petrol station.
This didn't sit down well with worshipers at the mosque. Outraged, they took to the streets on Tuesday to make their grievances known.
Angry youths marched from the central mosque at Oja Oba to Odo Ado area to brief the Chief Imam of Ekiti State, Alhaji Jamiu Kewulere, before moving to the palace of Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe.
Kewulere promised to intervene and cool things down.
The government defended its action. Otitioju said:
“The Ekiti State Government wants to make whoever comes to a fuel station safe. What the government is saying is that it is not safe to have a place of worship inside a filling station, whether a church, a mosque or even a shrine.
“The reason behind the move is the recent fire incident at a petrol station in Ado Ekiti, and we want to ensure that there are as few people converging at or around petrol stations as possible.
