*31 suspected cult members arrested
Residents of Imota Ikorodu, Lagos State
are still gasping in shock, following the gruesome murder of some young men in
the area by cultists
At least a boy was alleged to have been
beheaded and three others killed in their apartment, in the presence of their
stunned parents, in what law enforcement officers claimed was a reprisal. The
clash was between members of Eiye and Aiye.
The killings started on
Friday and between Saturday and yesterday, policemen and
members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), had arrested 31 suspected cult
members.
Yesterday, residents of Imota told our
correspondent that cultists have taken over their community. One of the
residents said: “There’s no day we don’t witness cult related killings in the
community.”
A team of Anti-Cultism Unit, Oodua
Peoples Congress (OPC) and OPMESSA were deployed to the community to restore
peace. In the process, 31 suspected cult members were arrested
between Saturday and Sunday.
The Coordinator of OPC in the community,
Mr. John Ojuelegba, said the rate of killings by the various groups was getting
out of control.
His words: “I was in my house, when the
DPO called me about the cultists’ unrest. I mobilised my boys and we went to
town. We started picking them. On Saturday alone, we arrested 19
and on Sunday, 12. They have all been transferred to Anti-Cultist Unit of
the State Command. What surprised me was that the Aiye group was going
into Eiye group members’ houses to wake them in their parents’ houses. They
killed them right in their parents’ presence. Three Eiye members were killed at
different locations. These boys have turned the community into slaughter slab.”
Mrs. Iyabo Adekunle, stepmother of the
first victim that was killed, identified as Tunji, said she was shocked to hear
that the boy was a cultist. She was in her shop on that fateful Friday,
when she heard gunshots.
She said: “I locked my shop and ran
home. About five minutes later, someone came to call me that my son had
been shot dead. My husband and some other members of the family followed us to
the scene. When we got there, Tunji’s corpse was inside the gutter. His body
was covered in blood. When he was brought out, we noticed that he was shot in
four different places.
“We informed the policemen at Imota
Police Station. We buried him that same night. I don’t know what could
have led to anyone killing him. It was because my husband didn’t want him
relating with bad boys, that he moved him from Mushin area to Imota. We didn’t
know he was still relating with bad boys.”
Mr. Bambo Shokoya, a resident,
disclosed that in September, two persons were killed in the community. He said
that the reasons why the boys keep killing one another, is still difficult to
know.
He said: “The present killing
started on Friday around 11pm, at Atere area. Some Aiye members
laid ambush for Tunji, who belonged to Eiye group. He was shot four times and
his body dumped inside a gutter. Before they left, they were singing and
dancing over the successful killing of Tunji.”
Shokoya further said that the most
annoying aspect of the issue was that most of the cultists had been discovered
to be school dropouts, bricklayers, vulcanizers and meat sellers. He urged
government to look into the issue of cultism, before cultists wipe out members
of an entire community.
Our correspondent further gathered that
it was after the rival group killed Tunji, that his angry members decided
to carry out a reprisal. They waited until nightfall and then went from house
to house, searching for those that killed Tunji. They allegedly got one and
beheaded him. Later, they got three others in their parents’ homes and killed them.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations
Officer (PPRO), ASP Olarinde Famous- Cole, said it was a clash between two
rival cult groups, which started since the beginning of this year.
He disclosed that the clash culminated
in the beheading of a cultist. He said in a quick response of the command, the
Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Imota Police Station arrested 14
of the suspects. Famous-Cole further said that an additional suspect had been
arrested and moved with others to Anti-Cultist Unit of the command for further
investigation
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