Three injured, five arrested as cultists engaged in street fight

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a group of cult members, alleged to be members of the Eiye confraternity.

The cultists, who claimed to be working as parking lot attendants at Obawole were arrested by operatives of the

Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on December 7, while they were returning from a party.

They were later arrested when they embarked on a street fight. The fight was between the Aloma boys and the Eiye confraternity at the Lagos Island.

One of the suspects, Temitayo Michael 27, a graduate, said: “I joined the Eiye cult a couple of years back in school. I've been involved in different fights, but in this case, the Agayawu boys known as the Aloma were feeling inferior. We as cult members hardly fight, so they attacked our neighborhood. They injured some people. We reported to our Community Development Association (CDA), but they did nothing. This prompted the younger ones amongst us to retaliate, leading to their arrest. They now confessed to the SARS operatives that they had older ones in the area, who had guns with them, and who were also part of them. This was how they came to arrest us.”

Two other suspects, Kudus Alani (27) and Ahmed Wasiu (24), said they were only friends to the cultists. They revealed that they were yet to join the confraternity.

Wasiu said:  "The Aloma boys started the fight. They attacked innocent people. They inflicted machete cuts injuries on the back and mouth of two persons. They also injured an old woman. The younger boys fought back according to what I heard from my friend Temitayo. We were all coming from a party when we were all arrested.”

Speaking further, Wasiu advised youths to abstain from street fights. His words: “If you don't stop, one day you will be arrested. If SARS meets you, scorpion will bite you. Whoever says there’s no government is wrong. There is a government and if you are caught, you are on your own.”

The fourth suspect, Sherif Hassan, 21, who introduced himself as painter, was in possession of a knife when he was arrested.

He said: “I use the knife to protect myself because of street fights.”

The fifth suspect, Taofeek Alayande, 37, the oldest among the suspects, confessed to have been initiated two years ago.