Isese priest, Adegbola Abdulazeez, has been forced to renounce his belief in the Yoruba traditional spiritual system and pledge allegiance to the emirate in Ilorin as part of pre-conditions to regain his freedom, Peoples Gazette learnt on Thursday. 

In a letter written by his counsel, Muftau Olobi, first reported by Sahara Reporters, the Isese activist was compelled to pen a sycophantic apology after spending weeks in custody and realising he needed to back down on his belief in order to regain his freedom. His elderly mother’s health has also deteriorated recently. Nafisat Adegbola was forced to travel from her residence in Oyo to Ilorin frequently to check on her detained son. 

Although the personal apology letter was not made public, it was accompanied by an accompanying note from his counsel, who wrote that his client has not only “genuinely repented,” but has also been “purged of his exuberance” and is now “totally remorseful.” 

A member of Mr Adegbola’s defence team, Adedamola Solesi, had previously clarified that the activist would not get justice in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

“Tani Olohun cannot get justice in Ilorin. I have been able to feel the nerve of the police; they are unwilling to arrest these people when they harass us. I have been able to feel the nerves of the court. Both at the upper area court and the magistrate court. These people will continue to have their way even up to the court of appeal.

“They have a court of appeal here if you say you want to appeal. We are still at the lower court. We are not even yet at the High Court. If we continue on this path up to the court of appeal, our client (Tani Olohun) will continue to be in detention. In my years of practice, I challenge any lawyer in Nigeria to challenge me that what I am saying is not right,” Mr Solesi said. 

Since his arrest on August 17 for insulting the emir in Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, and other Muslim leaders, several tactics have been used by his accusers in connivance with state institutions to frustrate any semblance of a fair trial even in the face of the charges filed, which critics slammed as preposterous.

Mr Adegbola lived and worked out of Oyo State until he was whisked in Gestapo style to Ilorin. Even though the police claimed a warrant for his arrest was issued in Ilorin, multiple sources have stated that the state’s ministry of justice and the attorney general are not aware of the proceedings that led to his arrest. 

His associate, Owolabi Aworeni, said that the arrest and subsequent torture and dehumanisation that the activist has faced were secretly planned between the commissioner of police in Kwara, Ebun Adelesi, and some Islamic leaders who were vexed by his audacious stance against stealth forms of Islamic extremism that is slowly invading the South West.  

“They have been targeting him for a very long time because he is very much outspoken about Isese, he was accused of Insulting an Imam, which there is no concrete evidence that he did,” he said. 

The police spokesperson in Kwara, Okasanmi Ajayi, hung up the phone on The Gazette when asked for comments about the police’s role in the matter. 

Until recently, Mr Adegbola was an Isese practitioner who ran a Facebook page dubbed “Tani Olorun,” a medium through which he critiqued what he considered the hypocrisy of religious leaders across the divide who constantly talk down on traditional religious practices in the open while secretly patronising herbalist for both body ailments and spiritual issues. 

He became more vocal when pockets of Islamic extremists started harassing traditional worshippers in Ilorin in the build-up to the Isese week and annual Osun Osogbo festival, recognised around the world as a period to remember and celebrate the traditional roots and heritage of the Yoruba people. 

Osun traditional rulers were confronted as they went about their peaceful worship by fundamentalists who claimed that Ilorin is not a place to celebrate Isese and that the land is fully Islamic. 

The attention of the police and state authorities was drawn to this provocative and brazen violation of constitutionally enshrined fundamental rights by several voices, including popular entertainer, Adekunle Adelana, popularly known as Oba Solomoni, but the calls fell on deaf ears even as the Islamic extremists issued open threats to traditional worshippers. Neither the state’s commissioner of police nor other authorities have addressed the crucial issue. 

This pattern follows the rot of religious polarisation which continues to plague Nigeria under the ruling All Progressives Congres (APC), which has failed in the last eight years to achieve any form of national cohesion or unity. It is widely accepted that the lopsided appointments made by erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari contributed significantly to notions of religious supremacy which at some point gave credence to conspiracy theorists who alleged that the former military leader was on a mission to Islamise the country. 

Isese adherents and other liberal residents of the southwestern parts of the country who supported them have raised concerns of potential retaliatory actions in their domains in response to the ongoing state-supervised religious oppression and discrimination in Ilorin. Analysts say the region might be drifting towards a dangerous ridge if the tension is not urgently quelled. 

President Bola Tinubu, who assumed office on May 29 in the aftermath of a widely controversial election, cannot be said to have resumed the business of governing and uniting the country, despite featuring these issues in his campaign paraphernalia.

Mr Tinubu himself ran on a controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket. His critics interpreted this as an assault on Nigeria’s principle of religious and tribal inclusion, an allegation he strictly denied, saying he was only concerned about finding the most competent person to be his running mate.