Crisis rocks Benin Central Mosque over leadership tussle

THE unending feud over who presides at Jumat Service in Benin Central Mosque has become worrisome as Muslim faithful now engaged in a free for all with two clerics (Chief Imams) conducting Islamic prayer service simultaneously in same mosque on Fridays.

The Chief Imams at the centre of the storm are Alhaji Abdul Fatai Enabulele and the reinstated Chief Imam, Alhaji Jamiu Edosomwan. There are protests each Friday as confusion trails who presides over the service following a court judgment that reinstated Edosomwan as Chief Imam, though the embattled Chief Imam, Enabulele, said he has approached the Appeal Court over the ruling.

Some of the worshippers who described the division among them said the sad development was unfortunate and a shame to the leaders of the mosque.

The crisis over who leads prayers at the Jumat service has continued for several weeks unabated, leaving worshippers to decide whose faction among the clerics to say the Friday prayers with, based on perceived affinity to any of the clerics.

More worrisome is the free for all that ensue almost at each Jumat service in the mosque, which has seen security agents deployed on a regular basis whenever faithful gather for prayers, for fear of tension arising from the clash.

The crisis, now in its fourth week, however led to a situation where worshippers came up with a neutral person among the rival Imams to lead prayers during Jumat service but the two groups in the battle for supremacy kicked against the move, which was aimed at restoring temporary peace while the litigation process is pursuethe