Oyo state chapter of Supreme Council for Shari’ah has clarified that its planned event for January was not for establishment of a Sharia court.
Gatekeepers News reports that the group had in a viral flier on Tuesday, extended invitation to guests nationwide for the “inauguration ceremony of Shari’a court in Oyo town and its environs.”
The event was scheduled to take place on January 11, 2025, at the Muslim Community Islamic Centre, Oba Adeyemi High School road, Mobolaje area of the state.
The event was however suspended indefinitely following public outcry.
Subsequently, chairman of the Sharia committee of Oyo land, Bello Adisa in a statement released on Wednesday, said the event is to inaugurate an arbitration panel, not a Sharia court.
Adisa noted that such panels, designed to settle family disputes among Muslims, already exist in parts of the south-west.
The statement reads, “This is to inform the general public on behalf of the entire Muslim Community of Ογο town that the inauguration ceremony of INDEPENDENT SHARI’A ARBITRATION PANEL of Oyo town, initially slated for 11th of January, 2025 at Oyo Muslim Community Islamic Centre, Agbogangan, Oyo has been postponed and new date will be announced later.”
“The postponement is informed by the inadvertent reference of the programme as inauguration ceremony of SHARI’A COURT in Oyo town and its environs instead of INDEPENDENT SHARI’A ARBITRATION PANEL.”
“Such Arbitration Panel, which already exists in many parts of the South West, is only meant to settle family disputes among willing Muslims, without any power of enforcement. It is not a Court.”
“All inconveniences caused by the misrepresentation and consequential postponement is highly regretted.”
