A 15-year-old boy was among 56 suspected cultists paraded at Lagos State Police Command headquarters on Monday.
The cult identified as Aiye Confraternity was paraded alongside three cult members suspected to have killed a Lagis State Neighbourhood Safety Corps operative in Surulere last week. The three however claimed they were the victim’s friend and colleague.
They Aiye group was rounded up Thursday morning after an initiation ceremony on the Eleko Beach, Ajah, Lagos.
Idris, a junior secondary school student from Orile, said he was brought to the initiation without his knowledge.
They were about to complete the rites when members of a vigilante group stormed the venue around 4am.
Two locally-made cut-to-size guns, three live cartridges and 22 expended cartridges were reportedly recovered from them.
A man in my community bought a drink for me. After we finished drinking, he asked me to follow him to Eleko Beach for a party. When we got there, they covered my face and took me inside a bush. They used an object to pierce my thumb and collected some blood,” the boy said.
“As we were about to leave around 4am on Thursday, I heard gunshots and the police arrested us. I have not been told the name of the cult.”
Another suspect, Eze Miichael,23, said his friend Kelechukwu brought him into the bush on the pretext that they were going for an event.
“When we got there, he said we would have to wait till late evening. When it was 10pm, he took me inside a bush. I met so many people there. They beat us. They told us to lie down and raise our hands,’ Michael explained.
“They threatened to shoot us if we did not cooperate. Immediately they cut my thumb, I heard gunshots from the police and everybody started running helter-skelter.
“Some OPC members beat us up. Kelechukwu did not explain anything to me before we got to the bush. But I learnt the group is Aiye Confraternity.”
Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, lamented increasing involvement of youths in cultism , adding that the command has initiated a clampdown on cult members, adding that those arrested would be prosecuted.
“Based on credible intelligence that members of the dreaded Aiye Confraternity were performing their initiation rites at a shrine in a thick forest in Abule Egbanu, in the Elemoro, Aja area of Lagos, the Divisional Police Officer, SP Mohammed Limawa, mobilised his men. The DPO received support from the undercover operatives of the Area J, Elemoro, and the men of the Anti-Cultism Unit of the command. Together, they stormed the area and arrested 57 members of the notorious Aiye Confraternity.
“Some of them were not in their right senses at the time of the arrest due to drug overdose. Items recovered from the suspects include two Suzuki mini buses with number plates, LND 893 XV and EPE 189 XV, respectively, one Volkswagen bus, one Mitsubishi space wagon marked, SMK 455 AL, and two Toyota Camry cars with number plates, BD 760 DH and LSD 506 EC.”
Meanwhile, the trio of Muyideen Bello, Wasiu Adio and Nurudeen Odofin, confessed to participating in the murder of the State Neighbourhood Safety Corps member Monsuru Bolaji
Imohimi said an axe and a knife with bloodstains reportedly recovered from them had been sent to a forensic unit for analysis.
“It is interesting to note that one of the suspects, Wasiu Adio, aka Trouble, further confessed that he was a senior member of Eiye Confraternity and that he and members of his group killed one Timothy in Aguda, Surulere, sometime in October 2017. Investigation into the case is in progress and further findings will be made public. The suspects will surely have their day in court at the end of investigations,” Imohimi added.
But the suspects denied involvement in cult activities and in the murder of the LNSC official.
They all claimed some sort of relationship with the Bolaji.
Bello said that Bolaji was his friend and that he took him to a hospital for treatment after he was attacked on that day.
“I took him to the Aguda Police Station from the hospital. He (Bolaji) was my childhood friend; we went to the same primary school,” said Bello.
Odofin, 39, said he was the chairman of commercial motorcycle riders in Aguda, while Bolaji was the secretary, aside from being a security official.
He stated that some cult members had been on their trail since December 2017 for allegedly giving the police information about cult activities in the area.
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