Traditionalists attack worshipers inside a mosque, leaving four people brutally hurt.

Traditional religious believers reportedly attacked worshipers inside a mosque in Ile-Ile, Osun state, injuring four people in the process.

The Muslim worshipers were reportedly inside a mosque on Thursday evening getting ready for the 4pm (Asr) prayer when the traditionalists assaulted the building while performing the Pro ritual.

It was discovered that local traditionalists had warned citizens to avoid certain areas of Ife on Wednesday because the Oro cult will be observed there between 2 and 7 p.m.

According to investigation, traditionalists flocked to the mosque in Idi-Omo, Ilare at around 4 p.m. with the intention of scattering the worshipers who were performing ablution inside the mosque’s perimeter fence.

Abdulazeez Bashir, one of the mosque’s worshippers, said that Oro devotees broke through the gate and began caning people as punishment for remaining in the ablution area.

According to Bashir, “One of them even attacked the Imam, Alhaji Abdullateef Adesiyan while coming into the mosque. He was beaten with a cane and hit him on the face with a rod.

“When I discovered that about five persons have been injured, apart from the Imam of the mosque, I had to call the Ife Chief Imam to intimate him of the happenings.

“The situation could have escalated into a big religion crisis when other Muslims begin to gather around, but the traditionalists eventually ran away. The victims were later taken to hospital for treatment”, he said.

Moses Olafare, a spokesman for Ooni, responded by saying that a peace meeting between the parties involved had brought the situation under control.

“Ife Traditional Council is on top of the matter. The leadership of Muslim community in Ife is also involved in the peace meeting currently ongoing. Muslim, traditionalists and Christians living in the town have been cohabitating in peace for centuries.

“The Ooni, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi is calling on all those involved to allow peace to reign. Security agents, leaders of the traditionalists and the leadership of the Muslim community are meeting to address the issue”, he said.

When contacted, Yemisi Opalola, the spokeswoman for the Osun Police Command, confirmed the event and said an investigation had been opened into the invasion of the mosque.

“We sent our guys to the incident, and the neighborhood is now back to normal as we look into the purported invasion of the mosque.