Wanted Cultist: I used my school fee for initiation

* 10 junior secondary students found with weapons

A suspected cultist, Michael Emeka, who has been on Police Wanted List, before his eventual arrest on February 10, 2017, has revealed how he used his school fee for initiation rites into cultism.

According to the 25-year-old Emeka, he used his school fee to entertain cult members on the day of his initiation into the Aiye Confraternity.

Emeka said: “After the initiation, I used my school fee to buy drinks and food for the cult members. I also paid N25, 000 to be a member.”

The police said that Emeka had been on Police Wanted List before he was arrested on his way to Adeniran Ogusanyan College of Education, Oto Ijanikin, to meet some of his members.

Emeka said: “I was initiated into the cult group in 2013. I joined after some cultists started oppressing me in campus. I joined cultism to avoid being killed. Since I joined, God has been saving me. Some of my colleagues have died during fight with rival cult groups in campus.  I also joined them to have someone to relate with in terms of needs. I was on my way to school on matriculation day, when policemen, during ‘Stop and Search’ duty, flagged down the motorcycle that was conveying me to school. They said I was the cult guy they had been looking for. I tried to run. They started chasing me. While chasing me, they shot me seven times, but the bullets didn’t penetrate. I succeeded in running into the Nigeria Foreign Academy for refuge.”

The suspect said that he was surprised that even after he ran into the academy, the police still pursued, until they arrested him.

He disclosed that the policemen started hunting for him after some of his members, who had earlier been arrested, mentioned his name during interrogation.

He added: “I have never killed anyone in my life. I, however, used to follow my members to operation.”

After Emeka was arrested, assorted charms, locally made pistol, were allegedly found inside his pocket. He said the charms were given to him by the leader of the Aiye confraternity for protection against gunshots.

He said: “After the rival cult group killed my cousin, I realized I didn’t wish to die. I ran to our leader. I begged him to give me charms to protect me. I was going to school on that matriculation day, to face anything that could happen, when I was arrested. I was tired of running. I’m not happy in the condition I find myself today. I can’t even begin to imagine what my parents would go through by the time they see my pictures in television and newspapers.”

According to a police source, the suspect has participated in different operations, including the one where one Suleiman was shot dead. The police said that it was because of the murder of Suleiman that Emeka ran away from school. He didn’t want to be killed by rival members in a reprisal attack.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni said the suspect had been terrorising Ijanikin and its environs for long.

In another development, Owoseni and his men arrested 10 junior secondary school students who were in possession of cutlasses, axes and other weapons.

The students were arrested along with their colleagues from another school. The two schools were planning to carry out attack on each other. The school kids are believed to be in junior classes. Owoseni expressed shock over their ages, describing them as minors. He begged parents and guardians to be more vigilant over their wards and children.

Owoseni said the suspects, students of Randle Junior Secondary School, confessed to have armed themselves in support of their colleagues from Apapa High School. They disclosed that Apapa High School was in conflict with students of another school, also in Apapa.

Owoseni said: “It gives a lot of concern to us as law enforcement agents that schools and homes are no longer doing their duties, but encouraging criminality. It’s been recurring that those that should be classified as children, have taken to criminality.”

Owoseni added: “Some of the suspected criminals are 10 boys between ages 11 and 16. Parents and teachers at secondary and primary schools need to improve on how they monitor their students. We’re not going to parade the students because of their ages; we urge school management boards to improve their monitoring to ensure they don't breed criminals.”