Exclusive: "I wasn't the one that facilitated arrest of Yesaloonaka on hajj arrival", Mallam Adepoju opens up

Ilobu, Osun state - The leader of the Academy of Islamic Propagation (ACADIP), an Islamic institute that engages in comparative religious studies, Mallam Yusuf Adepoju, has said there is a warrant of arrest on Sheikh Moshood Quadri Yesaloonaka El-Ilory, hence the reason police operatives swooped on him last week.

Speaking exclusively to Legit.ng on Monday, July 17, and clearing the air on rumours about him being behind Yesaloonaka 's arrest, Mallam Adepoju said the arrested defendant was supposed to appear before a federal high court, Osogbo, on Monday, July 10, 2023 -- but failed to show up.

Legit.ng exclusively obtained the warrant of arrest on Yesaloonaka.

An associate of Yesaloonaka, who doesn't want to be named, confirmed the arrest to Legit.ng.

Adepoju told Legit.ng:

"I was not the one that facilitated the arrest. That is the bitter truth. But I was the nominal complainant in the matter."

Narrating the prelude to the now-controversial arrest of Yesaloonaka at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos on Friday, July 14, Adepoju said the embattled Muslim teacher went on social media in February 2021 and publicly accused him (Adepoju) of being a member of the Boko Haram terrorist organization.

According to the renowned Muslim Scholar of Comparative Religion, Yesaloonka did nine episodes on the social media platform, Facebook, to "defame" and "blackmail" him.

Mallam Adepoju also accused Yesaloonka of trespassing and "intervening in our family matter".

He explained:

"He featured my younger brother's ex-wife, named Monsurat, in one of his programmes on social media and he instructed this lady; he planned, connived with this lady to blackmail the entire family. We have videos (evidence) on that too.

"Then he went ahead to influence some social media bloggers to start defaming my personality, to start defaming our organisation, that is the Academy of Islamic Propagation (ACADIP), where I happen to be the chief lecturer and national president. We have evidence for that.

"We reported him to the police in 2021, and to the Department of State Services (DSS). He went ahead to publicise the phone number of the DSS operative that called him. He publicised it and asked people to start cursing the DSS official.

"At the end of the day, he was arrested by Nigeria police, Osun state command, and myself, Yesaloonaka, with my lawyers, with his lawyers, with some elders, we had a meeting with the commissioner of police."

The Muslim preacher explained that at the meeting with the police chief at the time, Olokode Olawale, Yesaloonaka "categorically insisted that I am a member of Boko Haram".

Due to this, Olawale, the then commissioner of police, Osun state command, ordered his arrest and prosecution.

This led to his arraignment at a magistrate court in Osogbo and subsequent three-day remand at a security custodial centre in August 2021.

In a piece of related news, Legit.ng reported that the convicted Kano-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar Kabara, told the Upper Shari'a court in Kano to quicken the execution of the death sentence passed against him, adding that he was not afraid to die.

According to Daily Nigerian, Ibrahim Sarki-Yola of the Shari'a court sentenced Kabara to death by handing on Thursday, December 15, 2022.