In its fight against cultism, Lagos State Police Command has arrested seven suspected cultists belonging to Eiye Confraternity at Agura area of Ikorodu.
The arrest was made by police operatives attached to Imota Division on Saturday, November 28, 2020, at about 2p.m., according to a statement by the police spokesman in the state, SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi on Sunday.
The arrested suspects included Abolaji Abayomi (21), Josiah Offem (37), Oluwapelumi Oyeyinka (25), Lamidi Taofeeq (41), Ahmed Shittu (48), Zainab Nurudeen (20) and Rabiu Ganiyu (25).
Shittu was said to have been the driver of the cultists’ operational vehicle, while Nurudeen, a female, was allegedly the group’s armourer who used to source for guns to operate.
Thenewsbearer learnt that the cultists went to attack the officials of a vigilance group, popularly called Agbekoya, to revenge the recent arrest or perceived attack on one of their members by the vigilance group.
“They caused varying degrees of injury on the vigilante officials, using machetes and guns.
“Others who were in possession of their dangerous weapons, fled the scene on sighting the police,” the PPRO stated.
Items recovered from them included machetes, some charms, a green Vanagon bus, with registration number LAGOS APP 600 XA, that was reportedly used by the suspects for their operations.
Adejobi said that the state Commissioner of Police had directed the case to be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, for proper investigation.
Odumosu added that the arrest would send signal to other cultists and men of the underworld “that Lagos State will be too hot for them to operate or hibernate.”
The Commissioner of Police had said that fighting cultism was essential to fighting crime and criminality in the state.
He stated this while reviewing the strategies, being put in place to curb crime and criminality in the state, with the staff officers and sectional heads on Sunday, in his Ikeja office.
CP Hakeem Odumosu ordered the Department of Operations to make his directives on anti-crime strategies of the command as signal, and circulate it to all police stations and formations in the command, for strict compliance, and with immediate effect.
