Two suspected members of a cult group, Aiye Confraternity, were arrested on Sunday, March 21, 2021, by operatives of Ogun State Police Command, over their involvement in the attack of a vigilante man.
They were identified as Balogun Opemipo (26) and Onabanjo Korede(27).
The police image-maker in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed on March 22 that the suspects were nabbed after the vigilante man, Salami Azeez, reported at Ijebu Igbo police station on how he was attacked by the cult members.
Azeez, who told the police that he was contracted as a vigilante man at Aleke area of Ijebu-Igbo, and was on duty at about 1:30am, when he saw three boys moving around the area.
He said that he challenged them on their mission in the area at such an ungodly hour, only for them to attack him with an iron rod which was used to strike his head hard severally, resulting in serious head injury.
The PPRO said that the report made the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ijebu-Igbo division, SP Kazeem Solotan, to mobilise his patrol team to the scene, where two of the attackers were apprehended, while the third one escaped.
Oyeyemi said that the police discovered, after their arrest, that they were among those on their wanted list for their involvement in various cult-related clashes in Ijebu-Igbo and its environs.
When interrogated, the two suspects confessed to be members of Aiye cult group which had been terrorizing the area for quite a while.
Korede, a barber, who disclosed that he was initiated into Aiye cult group in 2019, admitted hitting the vigilante man with an iron rod found with him.
Korede, from Molusi in Ijebu Igbo, further said that someone called Chamber, who initiated him into cultism, had relocated to Lagos State.
On his part, Opemipo also confessed to being initiated into Aiye Confraternity in 2018 by Duella, whom, he said, had relocated to Abuja.
They both said they had never killed anyone as members of the cult.
The PPRO said that the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Awolowo Ajogun had directed that the suspects be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Eleweran , Abeokuta, for discreet investigation and subsequent prosecution.
