Prominent Islamic cleric, Sheikh Sulaimon Farooq Onikijipa, has publicly sworn on the holy Qur’an, denying allegations that he used diabolical means to afflict Sheikh Habeeb Adam (El-Ilory), the leader (Mudirul) of the Markaz Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Agege, Lagos State, with a mysterious illness.
At a Ramadan Tafseer, a visibly emotional Sheikh Onikijipa, who is the Mufty of Ilorin Emirate, called on divine judgement, insisting he had no hand in Sheikh Habeeb Adam’s health condition.
“This is the Qur’an, and we are in the house of God. Since I began my life, I have never sworn with the holy book, but I will today,” he declared.
“God, I’m in your house. If I, Sulaimon Farooq, the son of Aminat, know anything about Mudir Markaz’s illness, let the curses in this holy book be mine. I repeat this four times to prove my innocence. But if they are framing me up, let the curses be upon them,” he added.
Onikijipa’s action was in response to accusations levelled against him by Sheikh Habeeb Adam El-Ilory, who, during one of his 2025 Ramadan Tafseer programmes, suggested that his illness was not natural but orchestrated through spiritual means.
Sheikh Adam, a scholar and leader of the Markaz Centre in Agege, shocked many when he insinuated that Sheikh Onikijipa was behind his sudden health crisis since 2022.
While he did not mention Onikijipa’s name directly during the lecture, he promised his congregation an in-depth explanation of their long-standing rift.
He alleged that Onikijipa harboured resentment towards his late father, Sheikh Adam, for not including his father’s name in a book the deceased published listing noble Islamic scholars.
“Who am I fighting with? How can he say my father offended him? The offence is that my father listed all the noble Islamic clerics in one of his books and refused to mention his father,” Adam said.
He further questioned Onikijipa’s legitimacy as an heir to the Onikijipa lineage in Ilorin, stating: “Who’s even his father? His father is not the heir of the Onikijipa lineage. The real heirs reside in the Onikijipa compound. That’s their tradition in Ilorin. One Alfa Alabi Onikijipa is the recognised heir of the lineage.”
The Mudirul Markaz claimed that his illness began shortly after two separate encounters with Onikijipa in 2022. The first incident, he said, happened at a wedding in Ilorin, Kwara State, where one of Onikijipa’s associates rubbed his neck with a handkerchief before handing it over to the Mufty of Ilorin.
“Two months before my illness, I attended a wedding in Ilorin. While waiting for the governor, one of his boys rubbed a handkerchief on my neck. He later collected it from him before the clerics retrieved it,” he alleged.
According to Habeeb, the second incident occurred at another wedding, where he suddenly lost his ability to speak after greeting the audience.
“He was already seated before I arrived and acted as though he was welcoming me. At some point, he slipped something into my pocket. I didn’t notice immediately because I was wearing ‘Agbada.’ But as soon as I started speaking, I lost it on the spot. My speech became distorted, and clerics rushed to my aid,” he recounted.
He added that he was taken to Ilorin General Hospital, where he remained conscious but unable to speak. He further claimed that Onikijipa later approached his personal assistant to retrieve two gourds he had placed in his pocket, claiming they were for spiritual protection.
“He told my PA to retrieve what he placed in my pocket. It turned out to be two gourds. He insisted they were for protection and that he needed to perform an animal sacrifice for them,” Sheikh Habeeb stated.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the feud between the duo became public knowledge since when the Emir of Ilorin, HRH Ibrahim Kolapo Sulu-Gambari, named Onikijipa as Mufty of Ilorin, a prestigious Islamic title. Both the Mufty and and the Lagos-based Mudirul Markaz hail from Ilorin, Kwara State.
