Cult Clashes: 65 Suspects Arrested

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosun, on Friday, disclosed that the force has arrested 65 suspected cultists following the cult clashes in the Ijede Local Council Development Area of Lagos State.

Odumosun, who made the disclosure during an emergency meeting with stakeholders in the area said that the command would partner with local security outfits and stakeholders in Ikorodu and its environs to put an end to the killings associated with cultism.

He said, “For the last 10 days, there have been attacks and counter-attacks by cultists in the Ijede part of Ikorodu. The information we got is that a member of Eiye confraternity was attacked by members of the Aiye confraternity and they believed that the person that was attacked died. So, they went on a revenge mission.

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“When we got that information, we moved in and our intervention aided in curbing the clashes. We have arrested 65 suspected cult members involved in the ongoing clash. But in line with the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu’s policy of community policing, we need to carry stakeholders along and so we are partnering with local security outfits like the OPC, Vigilantes, the Onyabo Vigilante Group, and stakeholders like the National Union of Road Transport Workers, the Market Women Association, the Landlord Association, among others.

The Deputy Commander, Onyabo Vigilante Group, Olanrewaju Olabinjo, said the judicial system in the state had made their efforts futile, adding that whenever suspected cultists were arrested and handed over to the police, the court usually set them free.

Reacting, Odumosu said, “We are in a democratic era and there is a limitation in law, so, our work as policemen start from getting the information and working on it, going after suspects and arresting perpetrators of any criminal act and pass them to the judiciary. The final decision is at the judiciary. But it is what we put in as fact and evidence to prove our allegations against those suspects that would be adjudicated on.’’