Hausa community mosque shut in Lagos over leadership crisis

The Hausa Community Central Mosque in Agege, Lagos remained shut yesterday three days after it was closed down over a leadership crisis. The authorities of Agege Local Government Area led by the chairman, Alhaji Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi, on Saturday, closed down the mosque following a tussle over the imamship of the mosque. The leadership crisis […]

The Hausa Community Central Mosque in Agege, Lagos remained shut yesterday three days after it was closed down over a leadership crisis.

The authorities of Agege Local Government Area led by the chairman, Alhaji Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi, on Saturday, closed down the mosque following a tussle over the imamship of the mosque.

The leadership crisis arose after the death of the Hausa community Agege chief imam, Sheikh Sharif Habib Abdul-Majid, who died on Wednesday last week.  In a video that has gone viral on social media, worshippers inside the mosque were seen fighting one another.  There are three factions laying claim to the leadership including the deceased imam’s family and their supporters, the Na’ib’ (second-in-command to the chief imam) family and their supporters who are agitating that the Na’ibi should become the imam, and the Sarkin Hausawan Agege Council and its supporters.

Sheikh Mahmud Shafi’i, a religious leader, told our correspondent that a crisis erupted on Friday when the second-in-command came in and wanted to mount the pulpit to deliver a Friday sermon but was prevented.

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It was learnt that the crisis disrupted the Friday prayers.

The General Secretary of the Council of Sarkin Hausawan Agege, Alhaji Abubakar Ali Na’ibi, disclosed that Sarkin Hausawa of Agege is the one responsible for managing the affairs of the town’s Hausa community mosque.

Also, Shaykh Mustapha Imam Danlami, another contender, told Daily Trust that he is the second in command to the late chief imam and he’s the rightful candidate to succeed him.

When contacted, Shaikh Sharif Ismail Habib Abdul-Majid, the son of the late chief imam, declined comment, saying he is still mourning the death of his father.

The Agege Council chairman said the decision to close the mosque was necessary to prevent further conflict, adding that he would invite all the parties involved in the conflict to sit in a roundtable for reconciliation.