Cult youths attack vigilantes, injure many

Etim Ekpimah

Cult youths belonging to Eiye Confraternity at Agura in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State attacked and injured vigilante officials.

The cultists were said to avenge the arrest or attack on one of their group members by the vigilante group.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State, SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Sunday, said the hoodlums inflicted varying degrees of injury on the vigilante officials using machetes and guns.

According to him, seven suspected members of Eiye Confraternity in the area were nabbed by police operatives attached to Imota Division on Saturday around 2pm.

He said: “The suspected cultists went to attack the officials of a vigilante group, popularly called Agbekoya, in the area on the same date to revenge the recent arrest or attack on one of their group members by the vigilante group. They caused varying degrees of injury on the vigilante officials using machetes and guns.

“The suspected cultists arrested include Abolaji Arbayo, ‘m’, 21; Josiah Offem, ‘m’, 37; Oluwapelumi Oyeyinka, ‘m’, 25; Lamidi Taofeeq, ‘m’, 41; Ahmed Shittu, ‘m’, 48 (Driver of their operational vehicle); Zainab Nurudeen, ‘f’, 20 ( the armourer, who sources for guns to operate), and Rabiu Ganiyu, ‘m’, 25.

“Others, who were in possession of their dangerous weapons, fled the scene on sighting the police.

“Items recovered from them include machetes and some charms, one green Faragon bus with number plate LAGOS APP 600 XA that was used by the suspects for their operations.”

The Commissioner of Police Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, said this on Sunday in Ikeja while reviewing, with the staff officers and sectional heads at the command headquarters, the strategies being put in place by the command to curb crimes and criminality, particularly cultism and hooliganism, in the state, according to the statement.

The CP was said to have immediately directed that the case be transferred to the State CID Panti, for proper investigation as well as sending signals to other cultists and men of the under world that Lagos State will be too hot for them to operate or hibernate.

Odumosu, however, ordered the Department of Operations to reduce his directives on anti crime strategies of the command into a signal and circulate same to all police stations and formations in the command for strict compliance instantly.

He added that the command believes that fighting cultism is essential to curbing crimes and criminality in the state.