The suspects have been identified as Sylvester Bibra 34, aka Gardafi, Daren 27 aka Shokey and Michael Ojintan 20. According to them, “we’re cultists.
We belonged to Aiye confraternity. Yes, we have ‘fall’ (killed) some people.” The suspects were alleged to be part of a group of cult members that had been maiming and killing at Ikotan Community, Lekki/Ajah, Lagos State. The suspects were further alleged, to be part of those that used to be hired by land grabbers, to kill or deal with people struggling over possession of land with them.
The gang used to work and walk in group and residents live in perpetual fear of them. The suspects said they have three guns. Police said it recovered machetes, UTC knives and several black caps from them. They confessed to have killed three people. But police think they are being economical with the truth. According to them, they were behind the murder of an Igbo trader, called DJ White. The late White sold electronics.
T hey also said their gang killed a rival cult member, called China, of Eiye confraternity. Another of their victim, Yusuf Elegushi, was killed over money sharing formula. Detectives from Area J Police Command were said to have started hunting members of Aiye confraternity, after receiving several petitions about their activities.
The hunt narrowed down on one of the leaders of Aiye known as Jungle. It was in the course of hunting for Jungle that the policemen zeroed in on the three suspects. The detectives trailed and kept surveillance on the three men for weeks. They would later strike in August 2016, around midnight. One of the suspects, Daren, also known as Butcher, was said to have engaged two SARS operatives in a fierce wrestling match.
He refused to be arrested and attempted to even grabbed one of their rifles. A source said: “If not because some of these SARS men are professionals and with wealth of experiences, Shokey (Dare) would have grabbed one of their rifles. But they subdued him. Today, Shokey is assisting police in its investigation more than any other suspect.”
After the arrest of the cult members, they realised there was nowhere to run to anymore. Thus, during interrogation, they started singing like birds. Sylvester, a father of two, ought to have known better than to be a cultist.
But sadly, he was the person that pulled the trigger that witnessed the death of the Igbo trader. He explained that a Ghanaian lady, who was having issue with White over shop space, hired them to ‘deal’ with the trader. Recollecting how he killed White, Sylvester said without emotion: “We went there, I saw DJ White sitting in front of his shop. I collected the gun from Shokey and shot him.
He died.” Police had been hunting for the killers of DJ White until now. The arrest of the three suspects means justice for White. Police said that trouble between DJ White and the cultists started after the suspects, told the Ghanaian lady, to erect her shop, in front of Whites.
It was further alleged that attempts were even made by the gang to demolish White’s shop. Since the gang was known and feared, many of them expected White to slink home, cry over his loss, lick his wound and sweep the matter under the carpet. But White proved to be stubborn. Rather than accept the situation, White went to the police, to lodge a complainant of malicious damage to his shop. Police went to the scene and arrested the Ghanaian lady.
The policemen who arrested her were attacked by some of the suspected cult members. The lady was wrested from the police. The police radio for re-enforcement and were able to arrest one of the cultists, later identified as Anayo. Anayo was charged to court the following day.
The Investigating Police Officer (IPO), in charge of the case, was returning from court, when he heard that White had been shot dead in front of his shop. Sylvester, who pulled the trigger that killed White, said: “Police One of the victims came to my house, to look for Jungle.
They didn’t find Jungle, but they arrested me. Jungle is a friend and member of our Aiye confraternity. I’m the person that shot DJ White. A lady contracted us to ‘deal’ with DJ White. The lady and White were fighting over shop space. I killed him around evening time. He was sitting in front of his shop when I shot him. Since the incident, we’ve not seen the Ghanaian lady.”
Dare said the gun, which was used in killing White, was snatched from a rival cult gang. Dare said: “We collected the gun from a rival cult member. We had a clash with Eiye. We over powered them and collected the gun from one of their members. We started using it. Eiye members have tried countless times to collect the gun from us, but they didn’t succeed. It was in one of the battles, that we used the gun to shoot and kill China.
“China was shot by Segun Okondo. After the killing of China, we all decided to go underground. I was still in hiding when SARS men came to arrest me. The third victim, Yusuf Elegushi, was shot and killed by Idris. Idris is also our member. I didn’t go with Idris and others for that operation; but after the operation, they came to tell me what transpired. They said they killed somebody at Alaguntan-Ikota.
“Yusuf Elegushi was killed by Idris over money sharing. Somebody was building a house at Ikotan. When the builders were about to start foundation casting, some men residing there, (Omo Onile) demanded for money.
If the owner of the building didn’t pay, the men wouldn’t allow him to continue building. Our men demanded to share from the money; there was an argument. They started fighting. Idris then shot Yusuf.”
Dare said that although Idris was a member of Aiye, he was the ring leader of another fragment of the gang. People like Bariga, Jelili, Corner Stone and Lawal used to move with him. Dare said that since they collected the gun, another gang member, Bariga, has ensured there were steady supply of cartridges. Narrating his own story, Michael said he was tricked and initiated by Dammy, Lekan and Biggy.
He denied ever participating in any operation with the other cult members. However, when he was arrested, police recovered a cartridge, machete and a black cap, belonging to one of the commanders of Aiye from his room.
He denied ownership of the cap, explaining that the cap belonged to Biggy. He said he was initiated on July 4, 2016 and had been avoiding Biggy and others since then. Michael, who is the sixth, among seven children, said his mother was late. He added: “It was never my intention to become a cultist.”https://newtelegraphonline.com/contracted-kill-say-suspects/
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