By William Madouk
The murder of the muezzin, a person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer in mosque, at Nimara Talata Mosque is a criminal act and not a terrorism incident, the South Sudan Islamic Council has stated.
On Friday evening, a confrontation occurred between the muezzin, Sheikh Musa Abaker, a South Sudanese national, and a Sudanese individual identified as Omer Ibrahim Al-Ebeid.
The argument escalated, leading Al-Ebeid to pull out a panga and fatally attack the muezzin, killing him instantly and injuring another person in the process.
Addressing the media on Sunday, the Secretary-General of South Sudan Islamic Council, Abdallah Barac, condemned the incident, reaffirming that such acts do not reflect the principles of the Muslim community and should be regarded solely as criminal behaviour.
He narrated that the prime suspect had exhibited bad behaviour, which led to several mosques chasing him away.
“Omer Ibrahim, is a Sudanese refugee who entered the country through Renk, he went to many mosques–he first sought refuge in a Kuwaiti mosque but due to his behaviours and manners, he was chased away,” said Barac.
“He went to Hai Malakal Mosque and the same thing, he was chased away including at Malakia Mosque and he eventually came to Nimira Talata mosque where the incident took place,” he added.
Shiek Barac warned the public against terming the act as a ‘terrorism’, adding that it was just an ordinary crime.
“This crime is just an ordinary crime and has nothing to do with terrorist acts as claimed by some journalists and activists who made live social media post and tried to tie it with terrorist acts,” he warned.
The Shiekh asserted that several crimes as such happened in the church – for instance the shooting of a catholic priest in Lake but it wasn’t linked to terrorists, why should this be linked to terrorists?
He alleged that the suspect, Al-Ebeid – according to accounts from the Imam and mosque committee, in many times hallucinated and made up things that explained he was insane.
“On several occasions, he [suspect] alleged that Muezzin is shooting gaze at him,” Barac explained.
“On Friday evening, this barbaric incident happened and it was due to an argument, he went and brought panga and hit Muezzin on the neck, leading to his death,” he noted.
Sheikh Barac highlighted that the suspect was apprehended by the police and the investigation is ongoing.
Besides, Sheikh Walhid Jablebith, the Secretary General for CES Islamic Council also condemned the act and urged the public to refrain from unwanted speculations.
The clerics assured that they would follow up on the case to ensure that the family of the slain Muezzin gets justice.