One shot dead, nine others injured as masquerade attacks mosque in Osogbo

A man, identified as Moshood Salawudeen, has been shot dead, while nine other worshippers were injured when a masquerade and his followers, reportedly attacked them in front of a mosque in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The masquerade and his followers were said to be passing through the Oluode Aranyin’s compound, where the mosque is located at the time the worshippers were having prayers under a canopy near the mosque on Sunday when the incident happened.

The attackers were also said to have damaged the windows and doors of the mosque.

The Chief Imam of the mosque, Alhaji Quoseem Yunus, in a chat on Monday, said there was no previous disagreement with the masquerade, adding that the team had initially passed through the area without attacking the worshippers.

He said, “We were outside our mosque, having special prayers on Sunday when the masquerade and his men appeared. Four policemen were with them.

“They passed us by and moved down. They later returned to where we all sat and started pelting us with stones. They later shot at us and used machete on us. One person was killed. We have taken the corpse to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital Morgue. Nine others are receiving treatment in other hospitals in Osogbo.”

Efforts to reach the Osun Police Command Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, proved abortive as of the time of this report.