Curfew: Calling For Alaafin’s Arrest, Blatant Disregard To Islamic Values, Muslim Group Told

IBADAN – The office of the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin of Oyo has described the call for arrest and prosecution of the monarch by a Yoruba Muslim group under the aegis of Yoruba Muslim for Freedom (YMF) over restrictions of movement during the traditional rites (Seclusion) for the monarch as a blatant disregard to the Islamic Injunction. 

A press release issued by the Alaafin Media and Publicity Director, Bode Durojaiye, asserted that calling for the arrest of the Alaafin by the Muslim group was not only laughable, an overstatement, but a blatant disregard to the Islamic injunction on respect to the authorities, especially traditional rulers. 

A copy of the statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State on Sunday, stated that the attention of the office of the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin of Oyo has been drawn to a press briefing by a Yoruba Muslims group under the aegis of Yoruba Muslims for Freedom (YMF) which called on the Directorate of the State Security ( DSS) to immediately arrest and prosecute the Alaafin of Oyo for creating a “state inside a state.” 

At the briefing on Saturday in Oyo, the group’s spokesman, Mr Lateef Akinwale, said; “We the people of Oyo and the defenders of fundamental freedoms, condemns in the strongest possible terms the unlawful and autocratic declaration of a curfew imposed by the Alàáfin of Oyo, One Abimbola Akeem Owoade. 

“This arbitrary curfew, declared by a non-state actor, stands null and void. No part of the Nigerian Constitution empowered a monarch to declare curfew anywhere in the country. Curfew is within the power of a civil government, it is not within the power of any traditional ruler. Only the president or the governor can declare a curfew. 

“The Alàáfin is not a sovereign ruler of the land; he is a traditional figure who holds no legal or constitutional authority to declare such sweeping restrictions over the people. By unilaterally attempting to impose a curfew, he is creating a state within a state, an authoritarian mini-empire that operates outside of the rule of law, ignoring the basic principles of democratic governance and individual freedoms. This is an affront to the sovereignty of the Nigerian state, and to the fundamental rights of every citizen who resides within Oyo Township.”