Adebayo Adenrele
The Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe has called for the disbandment of the Sharia Panel constituted by the Islamic institution in the state.
Recalled that the Independent Shari’ah Arbitration Panel held its inaugural sitting in Ado Ekiti to provide arbitration based on Islamic jurisprudence.
The monarch made this declaration on Saturday when he summoned the Chief Imam of Ekiti State, Alhaji Sheik Jamiu Kewulere, to his palace.
Oba Adejugbe said the panel has been misconstrued by the public, hence the need to disband for peace to reign in Ekiti.
In his justification, Alhaji Jamiu Kewulere confirmed the existence of the committee, saying it was basically instituted to resolve issues among couples and the distribution of will among children.
He noted that the panel does not adopt the practice of the sharia law known to people, but to resolve issues and instill peace among couples under the Islamic religion.
“We don’t have problems with people with other religion, if they want to scatter here, we will never agree to it.
“All we want here in Ekiti is peace, we don’t want anything else apart from that.We made a committee to settle disputes among couples in the Islamic religion.
“We don’t discriminate in any form, we don’t have hatred towards people. Sharia is not what as people say it, for you to summon us, it’s also sharia. We are using it to resolve issues.
“The reason for this sharia is the issue of inheritance (distribution of will) and marriage, it’s very common among we Muslims. We want to be using it to settle it among ourselves to avoid escalation of violence”.
However, the Monarch tasked the Chief Imam to cancel the panel with immediate effect for the welfare of Ekiti residents.
His words, “The situation we are in Nigeria is very delicate, we have to be very careful. The committee is not supposed to come up at the moment because you have been making peace and settling issues for many years before you thought of setting up the committee.
“Your intention might be pure but the meaning attached to it is very different and will constitute chaos in the society. Let’s disband the committee, it doesn’t exist and it will never exist. It’s not possible, it doesn’t guarantee peace”.