From Our Correspondent in Iseyin
A Muslim cleric, Abdul-Azeez Sulaiman, has petitioned the Police Commissioner in Oyo State over a bloody assault on his family by a CAC Pastor, on Sunday, June 16 in Iseyin.
In the petition, a copy of which TheNewsZenith obtained, Sulaiman narrated how Pastor Busari Stephen, brutalised his family.
He said Stephen used some men in Army uniforms to assault his family while slaughtering his ram in his house.
TheNewsZenith reports that copies of the petition were also addressed to the AIG, Zone 11 in Osogbo and the General Officer Commanding, 2 Division of the Nigeria Army, Ibadan.
The cleric’s lawyer, Abdul-Waheed Olowonjaye, who signed the petition, alleged that Stephen had instigated his son, Damilola, and a few others all in camouflage uniform to storm the home of the victims at Olobide Villa on Eid-Al-Adha and attacked them with dangerous weapons.
“We write on firm instruction of our clients to call on your good office for the safety of our clients’ souls and justice for the wrongs done to them by the suspects.
“The suspects broke into the house of our clients at Olobide Villa, Barracks Odo-Omu area, Iseyin on the Eid-ul-Adha (June 16).
“ Around 11.00 hours with knives, batons and sharp rods among other weapons and attacked our clients.
“Our clients just returned from the Eid praying ground in Iseyin when the hoodlums swooped on them.
“They forcefully opened the gate, entered and dragged our clients Nafeesat Imran and Ajarat Rasaq, who were Sulaiman’s wives in Purdah (complete Islamic garments).
“Damilola Stephen, a soldier (23NA/85/11522) stabbed Nafeesat Imran on the head with a sharp rod while his father, Pastor Busari Stephen and his church members assaulted Ajarat Rasaq, a heavily pregnant housewife, on her lower waist and legs,’’ the petition read in part.
Below is a video production assembled from numerous clips sent out by those who witnessed the assault:
Meanwhile, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has described the assault as “an unjust, callous and inhuman behaviour”.
MURIC, therefore, called on the Nigerian Army to fish out the suspected soldiers and bring them to justice.
Prof. Ishaq Akintola, founder of the Rights group in a statement, demanded urgent justice for the victims.
“We call on the Nigeria Army to urgently investigate, apprehend and punish the military personnel involved in this atrocity.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,’’ TheNewsZenith quotes Akintola as stating.
Also, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said it has sanctioned the pastor and the church for terrorising the Muslim family in Iseyin.
Apostle Sunday Ogundairo, CAN Chairman in Iseyin Local Government Area said the Christian body has also gone to plead with the Muslim leaders in the town.
“I have gone around pleading with the Islamic scholars in Iseyin. They should please soft-pedal their annoyance.
“It is glaring that the man (pastor) was guilty. CAN in Iseyin has also sanctioned the pastor and ordered him to look for another place to locate his church.
“The case started last year and we have always settled the issue before the one which happened on Sunday,’’ Ogundairo told a Daily Trust reporter on Sunday.
He assured that talks are ongoing with the Muslim community to ensure that peace reigns in the community.
Efforts to reach Pastor Stephen for comments proved abortive as several visits to the Church to see him were unsuccessful.
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