Breaking: Federal High Court Sends Prominent Cleric, Yesaloonaka to Jail, Details Emerge

Breaking: Federal High Court Sends Prominent Cleric, Yesaloonaka to Jail, Details Emerge

  • Muslim cleric, Moshood Quadri, popularly known as Yesaloonaka, has been remanded in Ile-Ife Correctional Center
  • Yesaloonaka was incarcerated based on complaints related to slander, character assassination, and cyber-crime
  • The religious figure was arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) at the Lagos airport upon arrival from pilgrimage to Meccah

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Ile-Ife, Osun state - The federal high court, Osun state, has remanded a well-known Islamic cleric, Moshood Quadri Yesaloonaka, in Ile-Ife Correctional Center.

Legit.ng learnt that Yesaloonaka was remanded in custody till further notice. The court took its decision on Monday, July 17, after police operatives swooped on the Islamic cleric and arrested him at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos on Friday, July 14.

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Yesaloonka/Yesaloonka arrest/Yesaloonka prison
Yesaloonaka has been remanded in Ile Ife Correctional Center. Photo credits: Yesaloonaka, Nigeria Police Force.
Source: Facebook

“He called 13 Islamic scholars Boko Haram members”: Mallam Yusuf Adepoju speaks on arrest of Yesaloonaka

Meanwhile, Mallam Yusuf Adepoju, the chief preacher of the Academy of Islamic Propagation (ACADIP), who is the chief complaint in Yesaloonaka's case, has stated that the detained cleric is fond of "defaming" Islamic scholars of southwest and northcentral region extraction.

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It is understood that Yesaloonaka is being detained for alleged cybercrime-related offences.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng on Monday, July 17, before the court's verdict, Mallam Adepoju said Yesaloonaka’s level of toxicity on social media against religious leaders is extremely high.

He accused Ilorin-based Yesaloonaka, who was arrested while returning from Saudi Arabia where he performed the hajj, of tagging him with slanderous names.

Mallam Adepoju explained to Legit.ng:

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“I have never met him, I never fellowshipped with him. I didn’t have anything to do with him, I didn’t know him from anywhere. But he claimed that I offended his spiritual father, who happened to be a mudir in Lagos, Mudiru Markaz in Agege (Sheikh Habeebullah Adam Al-Ilory). And I never did any video to defame that mudir. But he said I did a video, I insulted the man, so he wants to stand up for his spiritual leader. And that was why he went on social media and started demeaning my personality to the extent of calling me a kidnapper, an assassin, and a terrorist.”

Adepoju continued:

“I was not the only one that he labelled Boko Haram. He called 13 Islamic scholars Boko Haram. Anybody he deemed to have spoken against his Alfa, the next thing he goes online and started calling them Boko Haram.”

Furthermore, Mallam Adepoju said Yesaloonaka never publicly recanted his alleged slanderous claims and even jumped bail three times.

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After a brief incarceration in August 2021, he was also remanded for 14 days at the Ilesha Federal Maximum Prison in June 2022 and released on bail.

Adepoju said:

“Later, an Osogbo federal high court issued another bench warrant against him and revoked his bail.”

The Osun-based Islamic preacher chided Yesaloonaka for not “repenting”, as some persons who joined him to controversially label some Muslim clerics Boko Haram members have since publicly retracted their words. He cited Sheikh Abdul Wasiu Jaqmal Atayese as a case in point.

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

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the leader of the Academy of Islamic Propagation (ACADIP), an Islamic institute that engages in comparative religious studies, Mallam Yusuf Adepoju, 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.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Ridwan Adeola avatar

Ridwan Adeola (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content creator with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion. Email: ridwan.adeola@corp.legit.ng.