Arrest Of Talolorun Was Illegal, Ifa Devotees Call For His Release, Religious Tolerance

Advertisements

A group under aegis of International Council For Ifa Religion has called for the release of detained popular ‘Isese’ devotee and activist, Adegbola Abdulazeez, known as Talolorun (Who is God), saying his arrest and detention are illegal.

The group insisted that Nigeria remains a secular nation in which every religion should be respected and tolerated.

Talolorun was arrested in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, on August 16 and taken to Sanyo Police Station before he was whisked away to Ilorin, Kwara State, by a team from Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Area Command, Ilorin.

He was said to have been arraigned on August 17, on charges of defamation and ordered by the presiding judge ti be remanded in correctional centre for 50 days.

Talolorun was reportedly arrested for insulting the Emir of Ilorin, among other offences.

A statement on Saturday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital by the International Council for Ifa Religion and signed by Araba Agbaye, High Chief Owolabi Aworeni, condemned the arrest and detention, saying they were biased and supporting one religion against another.

The statement said, “Taniolorun was arrested in Ibadan on August 16 and first taken to Sanyo Police station before whisked away to police station in Ilorin. On August 17, he was charged to court for defamation and the judge ordered his remand in correctional centre for 50 days.

“If the police is not taking side, how can they arrested someone on Wednesday evening and arraigned him on Thursday morning without even telling his family whereabout of him, they don’t allow him to lawyer before his arraignment.

“Nigeria is a circular state, every religion should be respected and have freedom of worshipping but in Ilorin and few other states, reverse is the case.

“Isese devotees are peace-loving people, we are not troublemakers, we simply wanted to celebrate our festivals but were stopped and asked to seek permission. When Muslims want to celebrate Sallah, do they need permission to do this as well? Why demanding such from Isese worshippers?

“Because Talolorun was calling for support for Isese, he was framed up that he defamed Emir, some were saying he burnt Quran, which are far from the truth.

“We are using this medium to call for his immediate release to avoid religion crisis, which is already heating up, two religions are having issue, the law enforcement agency, Police is after one, supporting the other, this is violation of human rights and freedom of worshipping.

“We are calling on stakeholders to call Police authority in Kwara to order, and facilitate the release of Talolorun before this degenerate to avoidable religion crisis”.