The Chief Imam of Uromi and President of the Muslim Students\u2019 Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Edo-Delta Chapter, Sheikh Murtadho Muhammad, has been reportedly kidnapped by unknown gunmen.
The incident occurred at about 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Angle 90 area of Uromi, in Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo
Eyewitnesses said the Islamic cleric was abducted shortly after observing one of the daily prayers.
He had reportedly stepped out to buy food for his family when he was forcefully taken away near his residence.
Confirming the incident to newsmen, the Chairman of the Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Abdulazeez Igbinidu, described the act as inglorious and unacceptable.
He strongly condemned the abduction and called for the immediate and unconditional release of the Islamic leader.
\u201cI am hearing that they are asking for a very big amount of money and we don\u2019t have such.
\u201cEven if you have, if you do such a thing, you are encouraging them,\u201d he said.
The chairman called on the Edo government to measure up and do everything possible to protect the ordinary citizens in the state.
\u201cThey are the ones that have the apparatus for security. So they should do everything possible to ensure that Imam is released unconditionally and without harm.
\u201cGovernment should also put up all efforts to ensure that the citizens are able to sleep well with the two eyes closed and work freely without fear of kidnapping or assassination,\u201d he said.
A family source said the suspected kidnappers had since reached out, demanding a ransom of N30 million.
The incident has sparked widespread concern among the Muslim community in the state, considering the abductee\u2019s dual role as both a revered religious leader and an advocate for youth development.
All efforts to get the confirmation of the Police Command in Edo yielded no result as its spokesperson, CSP Moses Yamu neither picked calls nor replied to a text message.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chief Imam of Uromi and President of the Muslim Students\u2019 Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Edo-Delta Chapter, Sheikh Murtadho Muhammad, has been reportedly kidnapped by unknown gunmen. The incident occurred at about 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Angle 90 area of Uromi, in Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo Eyewitnesses said the Islamic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n